Negima: Femella Intra Machina
by DarkDragonDave
Summary: 31 girls? No problem. One mech pilot? Now we have a problem.
1. The Girl With The Spiky White Hair

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Negima. I do own Reina Whitehall, William Whitehall, Hisao, and a small number of other OC's, even though most of their appearances are small and not worthy of note.

**Pre-story Exposition:** Let's see… Where to begin? Giant robots are cool. However I've always thought that the method of control is flawed. Always someone sitting at a control panel. What if we could get "inside" the machine and operate it directly. Merge man and machine. When you think about it, it really is the only way we can truly explore space. Zero gravity situations are murder on the human body. Even more so on long trips.

As for why this exists… I think perhaps I've taken a few too many hits to the head. I also plan on using this as a gauge for a future project, if it does well I'll go ahead with it and if not, I have a bunch of other things to work on. The currently unloved Twins Testing Trouble for example. (I plan on updating it soon, I promise.)

**Negima: Femella Intra Machina**

**By Dark Dragon Dave**

**Chapter 01: The Girl with the Spiky White Hair**

Another day of classes has ended at Mahora and Hakase seems anxious to leave class. Finally the end of the day comes. She quickly packs up her materials and not a second later she is out the door.

Ayaka asks after Hakase brushes past her, "Where is she off to in such a hurry?"

Natsumi decides to answer her question, because she overheard a conversation between Satomi and Chachamaru earlier in the day. "I heard some big robotics company is having an 'open house' kind of thing for students and tech industry bigwigs tomorrow."

"Doesn't sound like the kind of thing she could pass up then," Ayaka says. "Still, it seems very rude."

"I've got a flier, if you're interested," Chao adds.

"No thanks, Chao-san. Robots don't really interest me," Ayaka says. "Why aren't you in a big rush? You're in the robotics club too, right?"

"I've got other things that just have to get done. I've simply not got the time to go to some trade show," Chao explains. "She has some research she wants to get out of the way before she goes."

* * *

That evening as Konoka, Asuna, and Negi watch television they pass by a news broadcast.

Something catches his eye. "Hold on a sec, please," Negi pleads.

"Eeh, boring," Asuna groans.

Thinking quite the opposite, Konoka observes, "I'd figure you'd like the news, Asuna."

"I just deliver the news," Asuna states, "that doesn't mean I like it."

Chamo jumps down from the loft and lands on Asuna's head and she freaks for a second. "You know," adds Chamo, "your life would be a lot better if you enjoyed the content of your work."

She brushes him from her head and glares at him. "Nothing travels faster than bad news, you know."

Chamo knows to back off or there will be some fast news in his future.

"… And Kaminari Grand Industries promises to show the future of robotics tomorrow at their hosted tech expo." The television reporter reports while standing in front of some large scale machines; a large white one taking the focus of the image, a large white human figure cast in painted metal, presumably made by Kaminari Grand Industrial. "A special 'Industry Only' portion of the event will, according to the company's board of directors, set the standard for heavy robotics, and the technology field in general, for years to come." The camera switches to the main anchorman who switches to a new story. "In other news-"

Asks Konoka, "Isn't that the thing Hakase is going to tomorrow?"

Negi reaches into his pocket and pulls out the same flyer that Chao had. It is slightly crumpled so he has to flatten it out to read it. "Yes it is. She handed me this when she told me that it was an open house for university students only and for her to go she'd need a teacher recommendation."

This strikes Asuna as silly. "Why you?"

"I'd say it's because I'm her homeroom teacher," replies Negi, he sounds satisfied.

Asuna disagrees. "Homeroom teacher nothing, it has got to be because you're small and easily manipulated."

The television now shows images of suns behind small clouds. Apparently it is going to be partly cloudy for the rest of the week by the looks of it. Konoka changes it as this time of year always has nice weather.

"I might see if I can go," Negi says. "I'd like to see the things too. If only to participate in some of the activities my students enjoy."

"You can't honestly tell me you'd understand anything that would go on there," Asuna tells him, "or much less understand anything that would be said."

"Well, I'd like to also learn a bit more about the schism between magic and technology. The Magic World obviously has more magic. And this world has more technology… but why?" Asuna stares at him with a dead stare, Konoka has her usual happy face, and both are waiting for him to continue. "I-" A knock on the door interrupts the teacher's explanation. He stands up and goes to answer the door. "Hello."

Satomi Hakase is the visitor. "Hello, Negi-sensei," she gives a cheerful wave as she speaks.

"Hello Satomi-san."

"I have that recommendation sheet."

"Right, okay. Please come in," Negi says as he motions for Satomi to enter. He follows her in. "Say, do you think it'd be okay if I came along?"

Satomi practically chokes. "N- Negi-sensei? What brings this on?"

"I'm always trying to learn more about my students and I feel this would be a good opportunity to learn about you," explains Negi.

"Um… I guess you could come. It says that they welcome teachers. Besides, I have it on good authority I can bring a guest." Satomi agrees with a smile. "We need to leave at seven tomorrow morning." She hands over the sheet.

"That's okay. I can do that." Negi looks at the sheet and signs it where it needs to be. "I do have one question. Shouldn't you have handed in this sheet in earlier? It looks like it needed to be handed in two weeks ago."

"No. It's an open house, but I'm not actually a university student. So when I show up I'll have to show my recommendation to an event representative," explained Satomi. "They'll be able to help us from there. In fact, I got to meet the owner and CEO earlier this week, even though I didn't find out his name, when he came by during the Robotics Lab's employment outlook and recruitment drive. And he said I shouldn't have a problem. The sheet is just a formality." Negi hands the paper back. "Thank you, sensei."

"You're welcome."

"Well I'd like to stay and chat, but I still have to get some things out of the way first. I'll see you tomorrow." Satomi bids her farewell and leaves.

Konoka exclaims, "I hope you have fun tomorrow!"

"Just watch yourself tomorrow." Asuna advises, "You'll be in a large group of people and I won't be there to babysit you."

"Don't worry about it." Negi asks, "Besides, I think I'm beyond all that, wouldn't you say?" Asuna just gave him a blank stare with half open eyes. "Everything will be fine." Negi attempts to bolster confidence. However, it seems from the expressions of his roommates that the attempt fails.

* * *

7:58 a.m. rolls around to find Negi and Satomi at the bus stop, along with all the others from Mahora who were going. They will take the bus because the train at Mahora didn't go to Kaminari Grand Industrial. This bus will take them to a different train that does go to Kaminari. The chatter makes this event out to the best convention all year. Satomi must admit that she has been looking forward to it. Her heart has been beating a little faster all morning, mostly due to anxiety.

The bus is right on schedule and they quickly find a seat because this is a special charted bus exclusive for the event. They sit next to each other and Negi looks out the window to watch the scenery go by. Trees, houses, and poles with wires pass by again and again. A few minutes in and Satomi taps him on the shoulder.

"Huh?"

"Are you sure you'll be able to handle this?" Satomi asks, her voice with a genuine tone of concern.

"I'm certain I'll be okay. And if I don't understand anything, I can always ask you," Negi answers.

Satomi smiles and asks, "Will you be able to understand my answers?"

"Likely not. But I'd still like to learn more about my students. I may not be able to grasp it all, but at least this way I won't feel like I didn't try."

"I can't fault you for that. I'll try to explain everything as best as I can and as simply as possible."

The bus ride is quickly over and they find themselves in the hustle and bustle of an unfamiliar train depot. The train at the station is a big, flat black colored affair that looks like it is a double-wide Cold War hold-over. It has the Kaminari Grand Industrial logo on the side. The train takes both sets of rails and is used to move large groups of people and very large things to and from the company. It isn't a bullet train either. This is a steel-wheel on steel-rail train. Though they aren't used often anymore, but this one carries massive amounts of weight so a maglev might not be the best option.

"Come on," Satomi says. "Let's get on."

There are six passenger cars that all come in the same flat black as the train, just as double-wide as the engine. Two flat cars are behind the engines presumably to carry large objects.

The inside of the passenger cars is furnished in un-cushioned seats and all in a battleship grey. It is industrial design at its best. The young teacher ends up sitting next to a blue humanoid robot, which; when standing, stands around eight feet tall. The head cranes out in front of its body, attached by a neck that arched forward. Its "eye" was a larger blue lit lens with four smaller red ones that; if one were to draw lines connecting them, would form a perfect square around the center blue light. The metal of its skin was blue in color and it had black rubber covering the joints. It observes him quite closely for around four minutes.

"Excuse me."

"Aauh!" Negi reacts with a start. Satomi laughs to herself in reaction.

"My apologies, it was not my intention to frighten," the hulking blue robot professes. "I merely intended to ask you if it would be okay to ask you a question."

Negi is only used to Chachamaru asking to speak with him. "Sure, go ahead."

The woman on the other side tells the android to stop bothering people. Negi tells her it really isn't a problem and there isn't anything to do on the ride so he didn't mind. "So what was it you wanted to ask me?"

"What is the weird energy I am sensing from you? I can clearly detect it but I cannot match it to any known type within my memory," The robot asks.

Satomi overhears this and it piques her interest. She tries to keep her heart rate in check as she is going to what she has built up to be heaven, but this is also interesting. She asks herself, "It can see magic?"

Negi can only think it has detected his magic. He panics a little before covering his trail. "I don't know. Youth perhaps?"

The aperture in the lens of the main camera adjusts along with the top two. "No. There is something else to it. I cannot place it." The robot observes him closer. It analyzes his posture, body temperature, heart rate, and adrenal output. "I'm sorry. It seems I may have asked an uncomfortable question. I apologize again." It makes what Negi assumes was its version of a bowing gesture.

"Honestly, I don't mind. I lived under power lines until I was eight. Maybe that has to do something with it." Great way to cover it up.

Negi could hear the thing thinking about it. The drives kicking back responses and passing information around. "Perhaps. By the way, I do believe I have been rude in not introducing myself. I have no name, only a model number. Again I apologize. You may call me 'OC #45.' It stands for Operation Carlsbad. I am the 45th version."

Negi is relieved that it doesn't seem to pursue the inquisition any further. "Hello, OC #45. My name is Negi Springfield."

Satomi forms a small smile after this.

The four red cameras around its central camera begin to blink happily. "Hello, Negi Springfield… san." It seems to blink a couple of times, as if it is confused. "Would you believe that you are the first friend I have made?"

"Huh," Satomi thinks, "it has a concept of friendship even though it has never left the lab… interesting." She mutters this bit to herself.

"Really?" Again his only frame of reference is Chachamaru.

"Yes. Being what I am, I don't get out of the lab often."

The child and OC #45 talk for most of the trip to the company. The train comes to a stop at the depot just outside the company. The depot is obviously made for large objects to go in and out of. Everybody and everything gets up to leave the car.

The woman who was with OC #45 approaches Negi as he steps off the car. "Excuse me. Springfield-san."

Negi turns to her. "Yes?"

"I'm sorry for him bugging you like that. He gets so inquisitive around people and in particularly children. I've never been able to determine the reason for this."

"Seriously. It was okay. It was interesting to talk to a computer thing like that. Not everyone gets to do that every day." He did, but really not everyone did.

"Thanks for entertaining him. My name is Masumi Makamura and I co-created OC #45 and run his maintenance."

Negi introduces himself in return. "I am Negi Springfield."

"Nice to meet you Negi-san. I hope you have a nice day here at Kaminari Grand Industrial." She waves and then leaves to catch up with OC #45 who, despite claiming to be friends with Negi, has gone to talk with someone else. Perhaps today will be remarkable in the fact he will gain two friends in one day.

"Come on Negi," Satomi says.

Now that they are truly off the train, they look on in awe of… everything! Negi, being the paragon of languages he is, can only manage a small "wow."

Satomi on the other hand, has a different reaction. She has the look of a child on her birthday and every present is for her. "Oh. I… wuh…" A usually verbose Satomi says in response to the sheer size of the place and the number of robots walking around. The absolute grandeur and spectacle of it all hits her a bit hard as she forms tears of unfathomable joy in her eyes.

"Excuse me. Excuse me!" A man in a sharp suit accosts the student and teacher. "May I see your passes please?"

"All I have is this recommendation sheet. I was told this would allow me to get a pass." Satomi reaches into a pocket and presents her recommendation sheet after unfolding it.

"These needed to be presented two weeks ago." He looks at the boy next to her. "How about you, kid?"

"I don't have a recommendation sheet," Negi answers, "but I am a teacher."

"Yeah, I don't think so. I'm going to have to ask you to leave," Suitman orders as a girl with spiky white hair and emerald green eyes watches.

"But I was told it was okay. I got permission."

"You'd need a signature here." Suitman points to a blank line. "You don't have this line signed so you can't get in."

"But-" protests Satomi.

"No buts. I'm doing my job. Leave!" He points to the train.

"No way! I came and now I am going to see what is here."

Suitman speaks into his watch, "We've got a couple of punk kids trying to force their way in here. I need extra force at Gate One."

Satomi turns to Negi. "I'm sorry sensei." In a bold move she makes a break for it but gets Suitman's arm around her for her effort.

"Well that didn't work," Satomi states. "I should have known this was going to happen. And then to drag you along too."

"It's okay since I asked to go. I'm more worried about you, though," Negi says to her. "I know you really wanted to go. I suppose there's always next year," he says supportively.

"Enough chatter. Time to go back home kids," demands Suitman. Negi and Satomi turn back dejectedly.

The girl with the spiky white hair speaks up. "Are you harassing these people, Smith?"

Suitman Smith seems to be shocked by being confronted by the girl. "I- I was stopping these people," he explains nervously. "They don't have passes." The two Mahora outsiders watch this interaction.

The girl with the white hair waits for a moment before saying, "Then they're with me."

"As you wish." Suitman Smith backs down.

"You two," she says to the Negi and Satomi as she waves them towards her, "you're with me."

Negi doesn't feel like disagreeing. "Okay."

Satomi follows his example with a, "Right."

They both walk past Suitman Smith to their new 'friend.' Smith seems a little angry as he walks away.

"Thanks a lot. I'm Satomi Hakase."

"My name is Negi Springfield."

"Satomi-san, Negi-san," she introduces herself, "My name is Reina Whitehall. Kinda funny when you think of my hair." She wore cargo pants, a belt, and a black t-shirt with a red circle with a line through it.

Satomi thinks to herself for a second. "I think I know that name… Anyway, I do have a couple of questions. How and why did you get us in?"

Reina turns red. "How isn't important." She quickly turns away from the bespectacled girl, mostly to avoid eye contact. "As for why, well I heard of a gifted, young, robotics student." She turns to Negi. "You are pretty young."

"It's not me," Negi answers. "I'm an English teacher."

"I'm the robotics student of the two of us," Satomi corrects.

"Oh! I'm sorry," she replies, shocked. "Still to be an English professor at your age. You have to be some kind of super smart whiz kid." She smiles. "I like that."

Negi turned red at the compliment. "Well I…" All he can manage to finish with is a hesitant laugh.

"I bet you want to go see the exhibits now, so you can go do whatever. I hope you don't mind if I come along since I am kind of your pass card."

"By all means, Reina-san. And thank you," Satomi says. "It might be insightful to have the perspective of a true industry insider."

Reina laughs nervously a little while avoiding making eye contact with her. "I'm not an insider. I'm only 15. I know I'm tall for my age." And she was. She stood just over a head and a half taller than the young robotics professor.

"I have classmates about your height, so I can believe it."

Reina seems nervous by the remark by the made by Satomi. She looks away in response and then at Negi. "Why don't we go look at some exhibits?"

"That's what we came here for," Satomi states.

Looking down at the ground and away from Satomi, reaching her glance over to Negi, she says, "Well let's get going because there is plenty to see."

The newly formed group heads deeper into the grounds of Kaminari Grand Industrial. They pass by plenty of people and robots, some humanoid, others clearly not. The three of them move to the side to let a large truck-like machine roll through. It looks like a centaur with the lower half being a truck rather than a horse. Satomi observes it with an inquisitive glance. Her keen glance yields weight ratios, center of gravity, and possible weak spots.

"Nice work. Well built for transport. Not so much for dangerous situations…" She stops for a few moments to get a better look when it stops and the crowd happens to swarm at that moment. "Huh… Nice work." She turns back to ask a question to Reina when she realizes that she can no longer see them. The braided girl looks around to try to find some hide or hair of the other two. Her expression changes from studious to mild irritation. "…Great."

* * *

Negi and Reina walk past a big blue box. It looks like an old phone booth. Negi stops shortly after walking past it and realizes he is minus his student, "Reina-san, wait!"

"What?"

"Satomi isn't with us."

Reina turns to look at Negi. "What do you…" She sees that Satomi is not with them. "…mean? Aw now, where could she have wandered off to? That should be rule number one, 'Don't wander off.' It's dangerous around here."

A man in a black leather jumper approaches the box, walking around Reina and Negi, pulls out some keys from his pocket, unlocks the door and heads in. He reemerges a moment later and looks around. "Fantastic!" He makes the remark with a big grin on his face and closes the door.

Negi and Reina walk back a short distance to see if they can see Satomi. "I can't see her," Negi says.

Reina uses her height to her advantage and peers through the crowd. "You know…"

"What?"

"I can't see her either."

Negi slowly goes into panic mode. "What are we going to do?"

Reina purses her lips and glances thoughtfully upwards."Hmm…" She crosses her arms and taps her foot. "I think we can… Come with me." She holds out her hand. "Since we seem to get easily lost."

"Um… I should be fine thanks."

"Okay. But stay right next to me, okay? I don't want you getting lost too. There are some incredibly dangerous things around here."

"Right."

"Now come on. I know where we need to go." Reina and Negi head off in what seems like some random direction.

* * *

Satomi looks about as she walks off in the direction she thinks they went. As she walks along she steps in a spot where there had been a big blue box and a man in a black leather jumper. Negi and Reina had also been there. She is walking in the opposite direction they had gone. "I'd hate to admit it but I didn't feel like being alone here. When Negi mentioned coming along I was grateful for the company…" She sighs heavily. "Now everyone is going to be mad at me for losing him. Asuna… Ayaka… Oh well, might as well make the best of it till they throw me out."

It hits her like a truck. "I need to find her too. She's my ticket around here." She stops to look around and see if she can find any sign of them. She headed further into the crowd, looking for any sign of her teacher and the slightly odd girl they met up with. She seems to be the shy type and a bit awkward. "Wish I was taller."

There doesn't seem to be any sign of them. You think that spotting a tall girl with spiky white hair would be easy to do in a crowd. Satomi moves on further. She doesn't get far before Suitman Smith is back.

"I've got you this time. You don't have a pass and I'm throwing you out." Smith grabs her shoulder and starts to move her along when he is interrupted from his duties a second time.

"Smith-san! What do you think you are doing?" This time the voice comes from a man in a forest green suit. He is slightly older than Smith and Satomi recognizes him right away. She doesn't know his name but she did meet him a number of days ago. Smith releases his grip when he hears the tone in the man's voice.

"Sorry sir, but she doesn't have a pass."

The man in the forest green suit removes the pass he has around his neck and hands it to Satomi. She takes the lanyard and places it around her neck. "What are you going to do now, throw me out?"

"But I can't sir. You own the company."

"And she has a pass now, so you can't do anything."

"Yes sir. Sorry sir." Smith seems highly frustrated.

Smith's boss went on to say, "I met her during our little job fair at Mahora Academy. I quite like it when I meet a girl this enthusiastic about robotics. It proves not only how much progress we've made in research but also the field of diversity. Not too amazingly, the field of robotics doesn't have many women in it."

Smith takes this moment to bow out and head back to rousting people. He doesn't look overly happy.

The boss asks, "It's nice to meet you again… Satomi Hakase, wasn't it?"

"Yes. I don't know your name though."

"My name is William Whitehall."

This throws Satomi for a loop. "Do you have a daughter?"

"Yes. Why?"

"Is her name Reina?"

"Yes"

"She was the one who got us past that guy to begin with. I was with her and my homeroom teacher when we got separated."

William seems to ponder this a moment. He glances thoughtfully upwards, crosses his arms and taps his foot. "I know exactly where she would go… the only thing is how your teacher would react?"

"He's a ten year old boy."

"Well then that answers- What? A ten year old boy teaching at a school for girls… Poor kid. Anyway, I know where she went. Let's go find your teacher" Satomi follows William as he walks off in the same direction Negi and Reina had gone earlier.

* * *

Negi and Reina look about a small little security room. Oddly, in Negi's mind, Reina has clearance to get in here. There are a number of monitors here observing the flow of people about the grounds of Kaminari Grand Industrial. No Kaminari Industrial inside secrets will get off these grounds. Reina looks at various monitors and asks the people working to find "a girl with black hair, two braids off to the sides of her head, and roundish glasses."

That being a horrible description, aside from the girl part, the security people start scanning as best they can. The monitors show throngs of people wandering here and there. There are many people moving about enjoying the exhibits and robots walking about.

Negi notices something behind Reina's one ear. It catches his eye when a glint of light comes off of it before her hair moves to obscure it. His first impression was it looks like a headphone jack.

"Miss Whitehall, I think we may have an answer," says one security guard as he points to the screen.

Reina takes a look at the screen. She sees her father walking along with Satomi and they were heading to the same room she is currently in, which makes Reina smile. "Problem solved." She points Negi to the screen.

Negi takes the direction and looks at the screen. He sees Satomi with some guy in a suit. "Who's that guy?"

"That guy's my dad," Reina says. "He adopted me."

"Oh… I didn't know that…"

"That I was adopted? Why would you know about that?" Reina asks in a friendly manner. She smiles at Negi and ruffles his hair. "Don't worry yourself about it."

The door opens shortly and Satomi comes in first, William holds the door for her.

"Hey Negi. Nice of you to just leave me behind," Satomi says.

Negi is deeply apologetic. "I'm really sorry. I didn't mean to. It's just that you were behind us and was quiet."

"At any rate," Willam says, "you've both been reunited, so no harm done." He looks at Reina. "Reina."

Reina walks over and hugs her father. "Hi dad."

William hugs her back. "I've got to get back to the convention, so I'll see you at the presentation."

"Right," Reina tells him.

Whispers Negi to his student, "How are they able to come and go as they please?"

Satomi whispers back, "He is the owner of the company."

The light inside Negi's head clicked on. "That explains why she was able to get me in here."

William looks at Reina and asks quietly, "Are you sure about this?"

"I need to get over it some time. It's stupid when you think about it and it embarrasses me," Reina explains.

William says, "If you want, I could get you in at-"

Reina shakes her head. "With these two, I'll see how it goes. I really want to get over it. Maybe going there would be best."

"Okay. You can tell me your decision later," is the last thing he whispers to her. He turns and opens the door. "Have fun you three," Whitehall tells the group. He leaves and the door makes a click.

"Your father owns the company?" Negi asks Reina.

"Yep. So that makes me someone important here, I guess. But I look at them all like an extended family." She takes a deep breath. "Well let's go see some exhibits. But keep in mind this isn't all Kaminari stuff. This is kind of like the Tokyo Game Show or the Electronics Entertainment Expo, but one company sponsors it."

The trio leaves the security room and heads out to look at some exhibits.

* * *

The three kids enter the main heart of the display grounds. There are buildings after buildings with signs on them denoting different companies. There must be hundreds of companies and tens of thousands of people. The possibilities are nigh endless.

Reina turns to the other two, mostly to Negi and asks, "Where do you want to start?"

"Let's start here," Satomi says and points at a nearby building.

The three of them enter and see all kinds of small robots, some look like Centurions and others look like bugs, running around lifting similarly small boxes. All of them were white with a red trim. Some ran by the trio carrying small blue boxes, heading to some small green boxes. One of them stops to look briefly at Negi and the others and then carries on with its business.

Satomi comments, "I fail to see the useful application of such small robots, unless you are going to go nano and use them for medical applications."

"I think they would be useful for making tea," Negi says.

The two girls look at him. Satomi has a stare that is a combo of deadpan and frustrated. Reina has a smile.

"Is this all that is here?" Satomi asked.

Nervously, Reina answers, "N- no. Not at all." She turns away and says, "There are more exhibits."

"I meant here," Satomi corrects. She notices the same thing behind Reina's ear, but she sees one on both sides. She subconsciously passes it off as jewelry of some nature. Is she wearing earrings? Meh. Not like it matters to her one bit.

"Oh, um… yes. This company specializes in small personal robotics," Reina answers.

Satomi looks around with a sense of boredom. "Can we move on?"

"S-sure, um… Maybe if you told me what you are looking for that would be helpful?"

Satomi knew exactly what she wanted to see. "Got anything more large scale?"

"Actually, that is part of the large presentation later this afternoon. So there wouldn't be anyone there," Reina explains, seemingly trying to dodge the issue. "And I'm sure that you'd know more than me about them… so I'd be no help."

"So you've lived your whole life here and don't know anything about robotics?" Negi asks.

Calmly, Reina answers. "I know a little. I suppose you could say I have my area of expertise. I can fix them but creating them is something else."

Satomi comes up with a secondary choice. "How about something a bit more human sized?"

Reina once again looks nervous. "Um… there are plenty. They are all clustered around W- West Block 5. It's a bit of a walk. But we can get a ride if we hurry. There are carts that take passengers around and there should be one we can use around here." She switches her focus back to Negi. "For V.I.P. use of course."

"Are you okay, Reina-san?" Negi asks.

"Yeah… I'm fine." She took a deep breath and becomes red. "Why wouldn't I be? Let's go get that cart." Negi can see her green eyes shaking nervously.

He can tell there is something bothering her but he doesn't want to push the issue. They head out to a cart that is just sitting by the building. Reina produces a pass key from her pocket.

Upon seeing this, Negi asks, "So we can just take it?"

"They are here for us to use, and I have a key, so…" Reina answers.

"You can drive?" Satomi asks.

Reina takes a seat at the front and closes her eyes. "Just these things. They don't go very fast and don't have nearly the control of an actual car so I don't know how well I'd do behind the wheel of a car, but these I can handle well enough." She gripped the wheel. "Please get in." Her breath quickened as Satomi got in behind her.

Satomi got in on the left and Negi got in on the right. This was the first time Negi saw the small metal thing behind her ear on this side. With the insertion of the card key followed by the whine of an electric motor they head on their way. They drive for quite a bit, passing many people and hangars, and soon stop near a large concrete post that had W5 painted on it in bold yellow paint. The cart came to a slow stop. Reina withdrew her card key and the trio got out.

Satomi asks as she looks at the number of people and what are obviously machines moving about, "So this is it? I'm looking for something truly top of the line."

"Uh… Um. I'm sure w- we can find something." Reina seems nervous again.

There are a number of humanoid androids wandering about. Satomi gains a smile. "Now this is what I wanted to see." Without another thought she heads off into the crowd.

Negi exclaims, "Woah, hey!" Satomi stops and turns to look at him. "This is what got us into trouble last time."

"Well this time we have a known meeting spot. Right here at this post," Satomi observes. "Now come along." She heads towards another building.

Negi and Reina follow up and walk behind Satomi.

"You know," Negi observes, "I'm amazed that all these companies would come together like this. You'd think they'd be worried about espionage and thing like that."

"Actually you'd be surprised," Reina tells him. "We're all sort of like a big community. We all just want to get robotics to be commonplace. Admittedly, there are some of us who are a bit… rouge and would rather just use them for their own motivations. But generally we all just want to march technology forward."

"Well that's nice that there isn't any animosity within the community," Negi comments.

Reina seems saddened by this. "Like I said, there are a few companies that have their own agenda. We tend not to have any dealings with them. Robots should be made to help and protect people, wouldn't you say?"

"I wholeheartedly agree," states Negi.

As they walk about several white, football shaped, tripod like turrets with a single red "eye" activate. They all say something but are all drowned out by each other and their child-like voices. The red lasers all focus on the party. Reina dashes in front and spreads her arms out while taking a wide stance. The turrets make several clicking noises before a technician comes to stop them. Reina lowers her arms. Once again Negi and Satomi can see the metal things behind her ears.

"I am sorry. They were turned on. We didn't load any ammo in them for this reason."

"Be more careful next time," Reina admonishes. "Someone could have died."

"We're terribly sorry." The man reaches to a nearby switch and they all go into a sleep mode. A few of them remark that it is _naptime._

"I didn't know you had that kind of pull in the industry," Satomi states.

Reina nervously waves her hands in front of herself."I- I- It's not that. I'm sure of it. I don't have any pull, trust me."

"You mean you just threw yourself out in front of harms way to protect us?" Negi asks.

Reina doesn't even think it over. "Yes I did."

"Why?"

"Well, I guess it might have been a bit of a reflex."

Satomi asks, "Can I ask you something?"

Reina turns red again. "What?"

"Those things behind your ears, what are they?"

"N- Nothing at all. I can't really explain it right now. I hope you understand," Reina says and looks down at the ground.

Satomi ponders it over. "The thing is, they aren't any kind of jewelry…"

"Stop it Satomi-san! She said she can't tell us and I think it would be improper to ask her any more about it," Negi reprimands.

"It's just a harmless question. I really don't see the issue." Satomi sneaks closer and tries to lean to Reina's side. Reina steps back like she's scared and ends up tripping over all the turrets that had previously tried to kill them. They all go crashing over into one another.

"Hey, what do you think you are doing?" The technician from before rushes over to where Reina had fallen and knocked the turrets over.

Reina stands up and begs her forgiveness. "I'm very sorry sir. It will never happen again. I'll help you pick them up if that will smooth things over." The technician accepts and the two of them right the turrets.

During that time Negi lays down the law with Satomi. "Usually I wouldn't get this way, but what you did was like bullying and those things are her secret. Leave it alone." His voice carried an unusual amount of force in it.

Satomi is actually wary of him. "I'm sorry."

"I'm not the one you should apologize to."

Reina finishes picking up the last turret and joins the two again.

Satomi speaks first. "I want to apologize. I didn't mean to pry into your secret. I'm sorry."

Reina's voice wavers as she says, "It's no problem."

* * *

A young boy of about 15 sits on a crate and leans up against a large black bipedal robot holding a similarly colored rifle. It looks a bit like a knight. He had black hair and a hell of a smile… when he felt like smiling. He is wearing a white shirt with the sleeves slightly rolled up. He had a black necktie, black slacks, and black shoes. He wags his leg like he's listening to some kind of music, which he clearly isn't. There are a number of technicians walking about making checks and notes. The lot of them are in a wooded area.

"When can we get on with this?" The black haired boy asked, looking severely frustrated. "I'm getting bored."

"Hisao-san, please be patient," one of the technicians tells him. "You know the plan is to attack them at the time of the big presentation."

Hisao looks perturbed. "I fail to see why."

"That is when we can embarrass them the most. We attack them at their weakest. They will be so when all those representatives from other companies are at the large presentation," the technician explains. "We attack and the representatives see this, the story will leak to the news media and Kaminari stock will plummet."

Hisao sighs. "All of this so the president's stock will go up a quarter of a point."

"Actually we were expecting it to go up quite a bit more than that," the technician replies.

"I was quoting Office Space idiot. Not verbatim though," Hisao tells him.

The technician looks put off. "Hmm… yes," he says, his voice thick with superiority.

"You do realize that this company wouldn't be in half the condition it is now if it wasn't for me," the black haired boy tells him. "And you wouldn't have this thing," he points to the huge knight-like machine over his shoulder. "You don't own this."

"Neither do you, if you want to get technical."

"It's more my body than anything. And it's not like you can pilot it."

"While that may be true, you still need to learn your role within the company. You are not our savior, you are our tool. We told you this from day one."

Hisao shouts and leans forward, "Listen! I don't give two craps about that sorry trash! Without me, after this Kaminari would still be kicking this sorry company in the ass!"

"Despite your outrage, we don't need you as much as you think."

Hisao scoffs at this and goes back to leaning against the large robot. "I'm amazed they haven't detected us out here yet," he thinks to himself. "We'll see how far you get without me," he mutters.

* * *

The final hour before the presentation approaches and sees Negi and the two girls leaving the humanoid robot area. Satomi is anxious for that part. Humanoid robots are all well and good, but large scale is something else. They climb back into the cart and head to the presentation area set up at the north part of the company.

Satomi queries, "So you are going to be a part of the presentation?"

Reina becomes nervous again. "Y- Yes. I hope i- it'll live up to your standards."

"I'm sure it will. I know this company's products quite well. So, can you give me an inside look?" Satomi asks with a bit of humor in her voice.

Reina laughs nervously. "Maybe afterwards." She faces away from Satomi and turns beet red. She wants to run, badly. One is actually getting friendly with her. The one thing she's tried to avoid ever since she was a child…

"I'd love that, thanks. I think it was a measure of good luck you found us."

Reina looks a little sheepish. She mutters something that goes unnoticed except by Negi.

Negi asks, "Are you okay? You've been acting strange all day."

"I'm fine, thanks for asking."

They stop at the stands and find a place to park. Reina pulls the key card and it shuts off. The three get out and make their way to the security checkpoint. The guys checking badges here are a bit surlier than the others. As a side note, they enjoy action movies, especially those with Steven Seagal.

"Well this is where I part company with you for now," Reina says.

"I can't wait to see what part you have in the presentation," Negi tells her.

"I guess I'm the star of the show for now."

Satomi gets certified to pass and Negi is stopped in his tracks. "Sorry. No card, no entrance."

"But she's my student."

The security officer looks at him. "Yeah, I don't think so. Go away now and let others with certification get in."

"Oh, that right. He's with me," Reina says to the security officer. "Come on." Reina grabs his hand and drags him off with her.

Negi asks the girl pulling him along, "Are you sure about this?"

"Yep. You can get in but you'll have to be with me. Satomi's pass doesn't work for anyone but her." Reina explains. "But when we are out where I need to be you should be able to go up into the stands like you were a guest.

"Okay," Negi answers.

They make their way to a special building. Reina uses her keycard to open the door and nside there is essentially a large changing room. There is a strange suit hanging on a hanger inside. It seems to be a lot like a neoprene scuba diving suit. It's white with black trim. But this has what looks like pauldrons on the shoulders. They are rounded and black. There's also a pair of black boots.

Negi looks around and asks, "So where do I wait?" But it is too late. Reina had already taken off her shirt and is now removing her bra and Negi gets an eyeful. He quickly turns around and rushes to a wall.

Reina realizes what is going on. Like a secondary thought she puts her arm over her chest. "If you want, I suppose you could wait over in the corner if you want."

"That'll do," Negi says, embarrassed by what he has just seen. Facing the corner he asks a question, mostly to reduce the embarrassing noise he can hear of her changing clothes.

"So you're a pilot then? Of giant robots?" He hopes an answer will come soon.

Reina removes her pants and answers, "Not exactly, no."

"So what do you do then?"

Reina stops for a second. "You know those metal things behind my ears?"

"Yes. I don't want to pry if it is a secret."

"Well in a few minutes it won't be. So I don't see the point of keeping it anymore. They are connections."

"Connections?" Negi is confused as to what she means.

"Yes. They allow me to download my mind into a compatible machine. In this case it's a mech."

"What? Really?!"

Reina puts her boots on. "Yes. It took many surgeries to my brain to allow such a thing to take place. Sometimes… Sometimes I feel…"

"Yes?"

"Nothing. Who am I to place my burdens on you?" Reina answers.

"Wait!" Negi thinks as he wrestles with morality. "She was adopted and yet they turned her into someone that can do that? Is that good or bad? Yes, she has a family but at what cost?"

"My father adopted me just in case it didn't work and something happened to me. I thank him all the time for it."

"You thank him for letting them experiment on you?"

"I could have not been adopted," Reina answers. "I'm glad I have a home and someone who loves me like his own daughter."

Negi thinks about his own past and how his parents weren't there, save his father that one night. She is lucky. "I'm sorry. I didn't think about that."

Reina is fully dressed and ready to go. "It's okay." Somehow she sneaks up behind him and pats him on the head. "Such a considerate boy. If you were a few years older I'd consider you dating material."

This time Negi turns red for a different reason. "I- Uh…"

"Come on, we need to go."

* * *

Back out in the woods several people were checking their watches. They were all synchronized

"We're ready to go Hisao-san," says the same technician from earlier.

Hisao let out an exhalation of relief. "Finally. I was getting bored." He hops up and runs over to a strange chair, plopping down into it like he enjoys what's going to happen. Two wires were handed to him and he takes them and attaches them to the metal connections behind his ears. With a few chuckles, his body falls limp.

As a counter-action, the giant black mech activated. "Ah… All systems nominal. Everything checks out on my end," the giant robot says through on board speakers. The voice sounds exactly like Hisao's.

"Listen Hisao, it is vital you do not kill any members of the other companies representatives. They need to live."

Hisao's voice chuckled. "We'll see how it goes. Now get out of my way."

The people around did just that. They cleared the way for the massive black machine to walk forward. The local area shakes with every step. He gets out to a point and uses thrusters to lift up and fly towards Kaminari and what he hopes will be the end of the company.

* * *

William Whitehall picks up a microphone and the public address system whines some feedback. He motions for the sound guy to turn something down then points and gives a thumbs up afterwards. He turns to the gathered crowd and says, "I'm sorry. Anyway, to get started, I'd like to welcome you to Kaminari's Annual Robotic Exposition." He waits a few seconds for crowd reaction. When they finish he continues. "We hope to present to you the future of robotics."

"How do we march forward in the field of large scale robotics? To tell the truth there isn't much more we can do. The next logical step is in control. We've created a way of enhancing the level of control one person can have over something as such. We have an answer to that." He makes a gesture to where Reina are Negi standing.

"Okay, now when we step out, go ahead and walk into the stands, but you already knew that didn't you?"

"Yes."

Reina smiles. "Of course. You're a smart kid." She steps out into the stage area and is met with a small amount of applause.

Negi looks at her in her suit and inadvertently glances at her butt. "A proper gentleman doesn't do that," he thinks to himself. He turns red and hurries to the stands and grabs a seat near Satomi, who was considerate enough to save him a seat.

"Where were you? What did you two do?"

"Well, I saw her topless and I'm sure if I hadn't reacted like I did I could have seen everything else she has," Negi didn't say. What he did say is, "I didn't have a pass so she took me with her."

"Oh." Satomi's voice seems a little indifferent as she is wrapped up in the presentation.

Back out on the stage William Whitehall gives an order for something. After it, he looks up into the sky. Everyone follows suit and looks up as well. Shortly afterwards, a shape forms in the sky. It slowly becomes more humanoid in shape. Soon a giant white robot lands, kneeling to reduce impact. "This is our large scale mech, The Ivory Knight. Ladies and Gentlemen," William says dramatically, "welcome to the future of control." He aims his microphone away so the audience can't hear him. He asks his daughter, "Are you ready to go?"

"Yes, I am," she replies eagerly. She moves over and sits in what looks like a dentist's chair on steroids. Multiple lights and buttons are on it. Two wires with what looks like speaker plugs come down from a mechanical arm. She takes them and plugs one into each side of her head.

"Well that explains those." Satomi thinks.

When they are both connected, Reina writhes a bit before settling down. She doesn't seem to be in much, if any, pain. She feels her consciousness flow from her body. It hangs in the air before settling down somewhere else. It's been here before, this place… It's almost like a second home or rather body. Her "eyes" open to see several points of data in her field of vision. She was used to the amount of data she could feel. There are all kinds of things from distance to Negi to current ambient air temperature and everything about her current body's systems. All kinds of information is flowing into her mind.

The Ivory Knight stands up and takes a good look around like she has done many times before. "Everything is good," she reports. Some of the people in the stands react. Very few though.

"Now some of you are wondering 'what is going on here?' Let me say it's more than what it look like." William says to the crowd. "The girl here is now this giant robot."

Satomi's attention focuses. "What?" She turns to Negi. "Why didn't she say anything? I would have loved to know about that. I'm sure we could have talked for ages." Negi doesn't say anything.

"Her living body is kept alive here. We've done extensive research in the field of the human mind and have learned to transfer it to machinery." Some of the crowd begins to murmur. "While some of you may see it as extreme, realize that this technology or something like it is the only possible way humankind can ever exist in space."

Suitman Smith has had enough. There is that kid again. He can't do anything to the girl, but the boy is here without a pass. He moves over to where Negi is sitting. "Come on kid! Time to go."

"What?! But I came here with-" Negi protests but is cut off.

Satomi also has issues with this. "You can't do this. He has permission from Reina Whitehall."

Smith refuses that data. "Listen, this is an industry only event. He doesn't have a pass, therefore he doesn't get in and if he does, which he has, he gets ejected. End of story."

William sees this and interjects over the microphone. "Stanley Smith! What are you doing?"

Reina also objects to this. "Leave him alone!" Ivory Knight Reina protests.

"By your own words sir. 'No pass, no entry.'"

William knows Smith has him over a barrel. If he contradicts the words he placed down earlier… Hmm. Knowing her… "As long as he is out of sight, right?" He turns to Reina and makes a few a few hand movements and says something the audience can't hear.

"Right." Reina confirms. She steps over the people on the ground and over to the crowd. With what looks like an unusually slow movement she kneels down and holds out her massive metal hand to the crowd, specifically to Negi. "Come on…"

"What?"

"You're hitching a ride." Reina explains.

Negi stands up. "Go on Negi." Satomi tells him. "Otherwise you'll have to leave."

Negi walks down the steps of the seating area and takes a tentative step onto the giant metal hand of the robot. The fingers wrapped up around him like a safety barrier. She stands up and Negi learns a lesson on perspective. Her movements may look slow but that's only because she was currently several stories tall. When participating in its movements you could see they were quite fast. The wind rushes past him rather quickly as he rises through the air.

A hatch in the robot's chest opens up and the hand lifts him to that spot. "Get in," Reina advises.

Always one to do whatever a 40 foot tall (12.192 meters) machine tells him, Negi climbs into the darkness filled hatch. The door slides down and closes. The pitch black isn't complete. There are lights and buttons blinking away in the dark. Reina's voice tells Negi to "have a seat." All the lights turn on revealing a chair much like the human Reina sat in earlier.

"I won't get… downloaded will I?" Negi asks.

Reina laughs. "No, of course not. Go ahead and have a seat." Negi sits in the chair as he is asked. "Nice first date, eh?"

Negi exclaims and asks, "D- date?"

"But don't think I'm always this easy. I mean, the first date and already you are in me."

Negi turns as red as humanly possible at this comment. "I would never! Not on a first date!!"

Reina laughs again. "I kid you. You need to settle down a bit." Negi can feel the room turn as Reina moves. "Negi-san, you may wish to buckle in."

* * *

Outside, the technicians were scrambling to figure out what is coming. Satomi is watching intently. She wants to see how much better the control is when the machine is your own body. Too bad Chao didn't want to come, this is highly interesting.

From off in the distance, from an area where there shouldn't be one, an explosion sounds out. Reina turns her metal head to that direction. The technicians start to look at their instruments.

"Looks like someone got a bit overzealous," William chuckles. The crowd, which had turned to the direction of the explosion, turns back and laughs.

Satomi didn't. Something didn't feel right. The number one robotics company shouldn't experience such a thing.

Reina looks back down at her father. "I don't like the data I am receiving on this." She patches herself into his earpiece. "There's no reason for an explosion from that direction. There are no volatile chemicals or anything that would explode over there," only William heard.

Another explosion happens after she says that. This time there is no explaining it away. The crowd and Satomi start to become anxious.

"I'm going to go check it out," Reina states. Inside Negi hears, "Negi-san, I hope you don't mind but I have to go check on something. Want to come along?"

"Yeah, I guess." Negi replies. "Is there some way I can see what is going on?"

"Yeah sure… Just a sec…" A row of monitors lowers down and turn on, providing Negi with a great view of what's outside. "You can now see what I am seeing."

Back outside Reina steps around the crowd and then uses her boosters to effectively "skate" along the ground.

Satomi decides she's going to go see this in person. She stands up and heads to the exit. When she makes it to the cart they used she looks at the card Mr. Whitehall had given her. "Here goes nothing." She places the card into the slot and the cart starts up. With a blur of motion, she takes off in the direction of the explosions and Reina.

* * *

Reina comes to a halt around the area of charred ground… actually it was more of a crater. "My radar isn't picking anything up."

Negi asks, "That's not good, is it?"

"Depends," replies Reina. Something slams the white mech from the back. Reina stumbles and Negi is shaken around. Reina turns to see what it is that struck her.

There stands a black machine much like her own and holding what looks like a grenade launcher. "Hello, Reina. Long time no see."

Reina is in genuine shock. "H- Hisao?!"

"Yo." The black mech raises the grenade launcher and fires.

**Negima: Femella Intra Machina Chapter 01: End**

**The End of the Chapter Stuff:** This story represents an idea that has been floating around in my head for a while now. It actually was in my head since before Twins Testing Trouble. I would also like to apologize for the lack of Mahora in this fic, but this an opening chapter so I'd like to think this is a bit forgivable. I am focusing on turning this into a longer story, with a lot of neat ideas so let me know what you think in a review.

**Thanks For Helping****:**

**Azure:** I never intended to keep you that long, to which I apologize. Your help was immense and invaluable.

**Eternal-Longing:** Thanks for proofreading. I hope to live up to your expectations.

**Hydriatus:** Thanks for the motivation. If it weren't for you this would still be an idea.

**Je-kun:** Thanks for the translations. I always feel like I'm making a fool of myself when I use foreign words.

**Midnight Sleeper:** Thanks for not deleting the hell out of this while it sat in a corner of your hard drive.

**Tsutomu Teruko:** Thanks for reading through the beta version. I hope you are reading this version and like the different ending.

**Thanks For Reading!**


	2. Blackout Training Session

**Disclaimer:** Hey! Guess what. I don't own Negima. Big shocker, eh? Well, until I hit it big with something and you all start writing fanfiction about my canon (never going to happen) I guess I'll hang around here. (I can hear the boos now.) So anyway, I own Reina Whitehall, Hisao, William Whitehall, The Ivory Knight, The Ebony Knight, and Kaminari Grand Industrial. They are available by request only, but how often are you going to need a 40ft tall mech? That's what I thought.

**Authors Notes:** Yes, the last chapter ran long, which they all will if I can muster it. But reading is what you are here to do, right? Besides reading is good, like towels. I would also like to apologize for the almost total lack of Mahora and almost anyone from there the entire first chapter. But when you go to a convention or away from home how many people do you meet there that you know personally? I'm betting there aren't many, unless you live in a town where everyone does the same thing, which would be weird. Anyway, I am wasting words here, so on with the story.

**Negima: Femella Intra Machina**

**By: Dark Dragon Dave**

**Chapter 02: Blackout Training Session**

Light pours into his eyes as Negi wakes up in a hospital bed. He lifts the sheets up and notices he only has his pants on.What the heck happened? First there was this girl and then… A sharp pain rips his head, like a train through a brick wall. There is a bandage around his head and it has blood on it. There is just enough to make a few red spots on his hand. The spot is a little tender yet as it pains him when he touches it. He inhales sharply in reaction.

"Ah, Springfield-san, you are awake." A female doctor walks over to him and pulls out a pen light from her white coat pocket. "I want you to follow the light." Negi does as he is instructed, looking left to right and back again. She observes his eyes as he looks. Afterwards, she turns the light off with a click and puts it back. "Good, there isn't any damage here. You're lucky, as you could have easily gotten a concussion."

"What happened?" Negi doesn't find anything in his memories right away. He must have been knocked in the head pretty hard or something similar. The doctor was right about the concussion.

The doctor asks, "You don't remember? It's probably just a case of minor disorientation. Your head should clear up in a few hours." She jots down a few notes on a clipboard she picked up from the foot of the bed.

Negi has a valid question. "Am I still at Kaminari?"

"I see you can remember that much. Yes, yes you are," she answers while jotting down some notes. "Your head should clear up soon." With a gentle clicking she places the clipboard on the hook she took it from.

Another question crosses his mind. "Where is Satomi?"

"Satomi Hakase? I am sure she's somewhere around here. I can make sure she is paged. Now make sure you take it easy." The door clicks shut on the cold, quiet room as the doctor leaves.

Left to himself for now, the boy lowers back down on to the bed. In the short time he is up the bed has gotten colder. The room is fairly basic hospital fair, save for the amount of high technology, all very sterile. Nothing less is to be expected from a hospital. "What happened out there? And what happened to Reina? My head really hurts…" he ponders to himself. Only things to be heard are his breath and the muted chatter of other people outside the room. After a few minutes of thinking, the door opens again.

Reina comes in and sees the boy with the bandages on his head. "Do you mind if I sit here?" she asks after she approaches the bed.

"Go right ahead."

Taking care not to jostle the blankets too much, she sits down on the corner of the bed after he gives her the go ahead. With her head held low, she looks at the floor. "I am so sorry. This is entirely my fault. I never should have taken you into a dangerous combat situation."

"It's okay; there is no way you could have known," assures bandaged boy.

Obviously depressed at what has happened to the young boy, Reina is looking down and away from him. "I had a feeling something was up. My radar didn't show anything. If I had known, I wouldn't have taken you along. I should have known. I am so very sorry. He was right… I am a hypocrite."

"No, no, no... It's okay. I did get injured but it was my fault." Small bits of memories restore themselves. Not enough for a full picture, but it was a start and the hypocrite bit was quite helpful, if not somewhat harsh. "You told me I should have buckled in."

"But still… I was reckless."

"You were trying to prevent people from getting hurt." He feels this is right.

"Exactly, you got hurt."

"Don't worry about it," Negi emphasizes and she agrees unwillingly. He can tell she's taking it hard on herself. A small, slightly uncomfortable, span of silence passes between the two. "I do have one question. Where is Satomi?"

Reina stands up, "They just paged her before I came in so it shouldn't be too long." Negi can feel the sheets and cushion adjust to her movement.

"So it really was you in The Ivory Knight? Your mind I mean."

Looking embarrassed, Reina replies, "Yes."

"I've got to ask… what is it like?"

Reina doesn't have an answer to that. Despite that, she's quite enthusiastic for a moment before hitting a snag. "Well, um…" She folds her arms, puckers her lips and looks up thoughtfully. Within a few moments, she begins tapping her foot. "It's a little like… Do you remember the screens in the Ivory Knight?"

This triggers the memory of the battle a little more. "Yes, I do. Is that what it's like?" Negi asks anxiously as his memories uncover themselves.

"Not really. I don't know where I was going with that." Reina looks confused. "I can't begin to describe it because I don't know how to relate it in words that would allow you to understand what it's like."

"How about controlling it?" Negi asks. Partly because he's trying to wake his memories of the last few hours or so, up. Mostly it is trying to understand the schism between the magic world and the mundane world. There's also a slight bit of actual curiosity in there too.

Reina doesn't even need to ponder this one. Quite happily, she answers, "It functions exactly like my own body. Only I have servos and various mechanical enhancements instead of muscles and nerves. Where I would have bone and flesh, I have metals when I am the Ivory Knight."

"So it's a strange experience?"

"Yes. Oh, how I wish I could show you. Ever since I was a kid I've actually kind of enjoyed it. I'd hate to think of what this says about me but the best way I could equate it is kind of like being a giant toy."

The door to the room opens, making a very sterile, very quiet, swooshing with Satomi on the other side, causing Reina to back out of the way nervously. "Oh, look at you. What did you do in there? Looks like she got a little rough with you… and here I thought you were riding her."

Negi's heartbeat increases in speed as his cheeks turn red. This can't be good for his wound. Negi sees Reina trying to hold back a small chuckle. "But I didn't-"

"And you," Satomi turns to Reina. The white haired girl changes from trying to hold back a laugh to hold back her nerves as she can feel the eyes of the bespectacled girl looking at her. "He's just a ten year old boy."

"I- I- I- di-didn't mean to… I- I- was trying and… he-" Her will fails under the gaze of this girl. With a wavering voice she says, "I'm sorry."

"Either way, I do have some questions for you about that whole set-up."

Reina can only manage a hesitant warble that sounds almost like speech. Getting really close to her target, Satomi tries to sneak a look at the connections behind the ears of the girl. However though, her snow white hair, even as short as it is, obscures any chance of looking at them from a low angle. With a thermostat in her back, Reina is now up against a wall and making it colder in the room.

"Satomi-san!" Negi reprimands.

Satomi backs up. "Right. Sorry."

"I- I- have to go," Reina says now that she has an opportunity to leave. "It was nice meeting you both." Before either of them can say anything she darts out the door.

"And I was going to ask her what it was like to be inside the machine. If I could simply get a few words about what it's like I could make some amazing leaps in my own work, I'm sure. Yes, Chachamaru is amazing in her own right, but her perspective is skewed in the fact that she's always been a machine." Satomi remains silent for a few moments, thinking to herself in the quiet of the room.

"If she would come to Mahora," she thought, "that would be a huge bit of luck on my part."

"Satomi-san?"

"Hm?" Satomi sounds as she turns to the boy.

"I'm ready to leave"

Negi and Satomi walk down a hallway and eventually exit the hospital building through self opening doors. As the late evening light shines bright orange in the sky, the scale of Kaminari Grand Industrial once again strikes the young teacher. Massive buildings rise from the ground living up to the name "skyscraper." The mix of darkened windows, reflected orange and the purple of the sky make for a striking mixture of colors for the day's end.

"They've gotten a taxi for us, sensei," Satomi says. "Whitehall-san said it was the least he could do for us. He is also quite worried about you as going with Reina was his idea."

Again, Negi lets it slide. "Well I'm fine now and it was kind of my fault for not buckling in."

"It seems Reina has taken it hard too."

As they proceed, they come to the battlefield from earlier that day. The devastation the area has experienced is obvious. This is the final thing to trigger the memories Negi has of the battle he was in. All of those memories flood back to him, which make him stop walking. The black mech, the screens… everything comes flooding back.

Surprised by the sudden stop, Satomi asks the seemingly spaced out teacher, "Negi-sensei?"

* * *

"Yo." The black mech raises the grenade launcher and fires.

Reina, in a blur, raises her hand up and grabs the incoming grenade. The white machine pitches the explosive to the sky. She aims her rifle at it and, with the aid of tracking software, shoots it in the air. It explodes harmlessly in the sky.

This gives Hisao a chance to boost his way around Reina, dropping the launcher as he does so, and he fires up his energy sword. She reacts quickly enough to spin around with a quick flare of her boosters and face the black mech. Reacting to the forward stab, the white mech moves to the side, drops the rifle, and wraps her left arm around his right. Ivory Knight Reina lifts her free fist up and slams his face with a volley of punches. Small bits of metal and high impact resistant glass shatter free. The black machines' left lens is now exposed to the elements. He adjusts his arm and tries to hip toss her on to the hard concrete below them. She balances out and lands safely on her feet, picking the rifle up when she does.

Inside, Negi is tossed around like a ragdoll. "I'm sorry Negi-san! Are you okay?!"

Negi gets up from the floor. "I'm fine. Who is that?"

"Long story," Reina replies. She runs forward and kicks the black machine in the chest, taking special care to not let Negi get tossed about too much, if at all if she can avoid it.

Hisao skids back, sparks issuing up from his metal feet scraping off the cement. "Damn you! After three years you still refuse to see the truth!"

In a cold tone that carries a lot of vitriol, Reina says, "I don't want your truth!" The thing on the back of her right arm flares up and an energy sword forms.

They both start chopping and dodging, boosters flaring as the two massive machines perform an intricate dance of combat. Both machines perform circles around one another, hoping to land in a slice but both parties being too quick for the other. Reina deftly moves her sword and connects at an odd angle on the back of Hisao's sword arm. The cut completes its path, cutting through the arm mounted sword's bracing, making it fall to the ground. The back of the black machine's arm sparks and the sword attachment explodes from the sudden uncontrolled energy. Reina boosts over to the grenade launcher and kicks it up into her hands like a skateboard, shutting off her sword before she catches it.

"It's over," Reina states.

Avoiding direct movement, Hisao slowly reaches to the upper section of his right leg. He deceptively makes it look like he's going to sit down. Seeing through it like a piece of cellophane, Reina already knows what he is up to. She aims the rifle and the grenade launcher at him. The strange looking pod along the right side of her back rises up and over her shoulder and the front of it opens up. The similar looking things on the Ivory Knight's shoulders do the same, aiming forward and opening.

"Don't move!" Reina commands. Hisao stops what he is doing, knowing when she means business.

Negi asks from inside, "What are those things?"

Reina replies, "Tracking missiles."

"Why didn't you use them to begin with?"

"Well, in this instance, they aren't going to be 100 percent accurate. With his speed, he could have dodged out of the way and then they'd go wherever because they no longer have a target."

"You have a passenger?" Hisao asks Reina with a slight change in his voice, almost like he takes offense that she would do such a thing. Flaps on his back open up and expose a large jet.

"Yes. What of it?"

"Oh, nothing. Bit reckless wouldn't you say? Here you are trying to save lives when you are clearly endangering one. Hypocrite!" Energy particles start to build up near the jet on his back. Soon there is enough energy built up for him to- "Endangering people like that!" he shouts as his jets suddenly thrust him forward in a massive burst of power. In a shower of sparks made as they collide, Hisao ends up knocking the white mech back.

Satomi chooses the worst time to show up at the fight. The cart she is in comes to as much of a screeching halt as a golf cart can as the Ivory Knight goes sailing over head. The black mech stops just short of the cart being driven by the girl with the twin braids. "Wah!" Satomi exclaims as the giant metal foot stomps down nearby. Yes, she's been around machines of this scale but usually they were under some kind of control.

With almost no thought to it, she decides to drive away and find a better spot to observe from, driving the cart over to a nearby ruin and parking it behind a wall. After a few moments of hunting she finds a place to observe. "All of this here could help me in my research," thinks the hiding girl. "I just need to watch."

Reina slams back hard and hits the ground which is a bad thing to do if you are trying to protect your paintjob, fortunately that isn't her number one concern. Folding up everything, she takes precautions not to break any of the things along her back such as her missile pod, radar, and stabilizers. She closes up all missile launching devices. Before too much damage can be done, she uses her thrust jets to right herself. The mech flips up into a straight standing position and checks on her occupant.

He's got a cut on his head and the blood is running down his face while he tries to get out of the cockpit by pounding on the door. "Negi-san, you are hurt! I need to get you somewhere where they can help you."

"No way, Reina-san! I don't know how but I am going to help you. Open the hatch!" Negi protests.

"That hit to your head must have knocked you silly. There's a giant robot out there. You don't stand a chance." Reina counters. "I need to get you to our hospital."

"I'm fine really. Let me out."

"No!"

Negi looks around and finds something that will help his situation. A lever that is labeled, "Emergency Door Release."

Reina sees this and knows what Negi is thinking. "Please Negi-san, don't."

"I want to help!"

"Just strap yourself into that chair; otherwise I'm going to have to hold back."

Hisao decides he's going to use the distraction provided by this other boy to his advantage. A hatch in his leg opens and he draws a pistol like weapon as quick as an old west gunslinger. He uses his aiming software to aim at one of the Ivory Knight's eyes. Reina dodges in time to save the camera, but not some of the metal around it. Using the momentum of the dodge, she spins to the left and dashes in, firing off her rifle as she does. Hisao boosts to his right and ends up behind an undamaged building at the start of a cluster of buildings.

Reina stops short of entering the area. She lets out a small grunt of frustration.

"What's the matter Reina-san?" Negi asks, trying to get the switch to work.

"First off, I am not letting you out. You could get killed. And secondly, Hisao just ran off into hiding."

"Why not just go after him?" Negi asks.

Reina replies, "I know him too well. He was always better at combat than me. The tables turned on him. Hisao has none of his main weapons and there wasn't anything he could do except go hide. I know the way he thinks, he's trying to ambush me using The Shroud."

"How do you know that?" Negi asks, forgoing asking about 'The Shroud.' He has finally given up on the door and decides to sit down back in the chair. Begrudgingly, he straps himself in.

"I'm going to have to disengage. Negi-san you are hurt?"

Negi asks, "Can't your radar sense him?"

"No, The Ebony Knight is canceling his signal, which is another of his tricks. Now enough trying to distract me, we're getting you help."

"How come you know so much about him?"

"I don't want to talk about it. Let's get you some help." Reina steps backwards apprehensively and begins to turn around.

"I'm fine really."

"No you— oof!"

The Ebony Knight boosts back into combat and uses his momentum to throttle-punch Reina in her back, causing her to stumble forward. Immediately after, he kicks her in the back of her knee. She quickly drops down to a kneeling position; he moves and puts his foot on her back, shoving her to the ground. "You've always been weak!"

Negi gets jostled around. When he's done gathering himself, he asks, "You two have to know each other?"

"Ungh! Keep your focus," Ivory Knight Reina advises while getting stomped on.

Hisao leans down and grabs The Ivory Knight's right arm. With metal grinding and straining, he pulls the arm backwards. Reina rolls with it, folding up the wing-like stabilizers on her back to prevent damage to them. She wraps her legs around his arm and opens up her shoulder mounted missile pods and launches a single rocket. Thanks to the short range and targeting software of Reina's munitions, it hit its mark. Flames and force rip across the black metal machine.

The mech boy staggers back and is facing away from The Ivory Knight. Reina sees an opportunity and takes it. She wraps her arm around his neck and flares up her sword. Ripping a hole straight through, she buries the sword deep within the black robots abdomen. The machine screams as the blade tears through it. A few disconnected wires, cables, and some fluid issue forth from the newly created cavity.

Reina pleads, "It's over. Please stop."

"When will you see the truth?" Hisao asks as he breaks away from Reina's death grip, the sword sliding out of its metal sheath. Chunks of metal and errant wires fly out of the back of the gaping hole in the machine's torso. "We are superior to these scum. We are above humanity."

"Then why attack us?" Reina asks. "If we are superior, shouldn't we protect those who are underneath us?"

"You are being lied to and have been hearing lies your whole life." Hisao lifts up off the ground, his jets lifting him up off the ground. The leg mounted ones were giving him issues. "Someday you will hear the truth." He points forward at the white mech and declares, "Someday I will make you recognize it!" With some groaning issuing forth, he leans back and flies away, quickly becoming a speck on the horizon.

Reina watches him leave. "Now let's get you some help, Negi-san."

"It… is okay. I am… fine…" Negi says while passing out. His face quite red from his wound at this point. The last thing he hears before being swallowed by the darkness is, oddly enough, what sounds like rumbling.

* * *

"Are you coming?" Satomi asks.

Negi stands at the edge of the battlefield. The charred and scarred pavement stands as a reminder of the battle. He looks out into it, silent as a stone. Something is obviously on his mind.

"Negi-sensei?"

Negi pops back to reality. "Huh? Oh! Can I ask you something?"

"I guess so," agrees Satomi. "What is it?"

The boy teacher is quiet for a few moments before saying, "Nothing…" Negi looks away from Satomi with a solemn expression.

"Negi-sensei, is there something you want to talk about?" Satomi asks.

Negi remains silent for a few seconds. He gently shook his head. "Nevermind. It's nothing."

The two walk in a strange silence on the way to the taxi. The taxi takes off toward Mahora after they enter. The ride, thanks to the silence, is relaxing and Negi soon falls asleep in the back.

"He is kind of a cute kid," Satomi thinks as she watches him sleep. "Sleeping like that and he will end up with a neck cramp." Several gentle bumps in the road make him lean over on her, thus solving that problem. Even with "cute" bit she just thought, the thought of shoving him back also crosses her mind. In the end, she decides against it. He is injured, after all and letting him rest was likely the best option at this point.

Rather than concern herself with Negi; her thoughts stray to the girl, Reina, and the fact she can download or whatever they call it, into a giant robot. How that is possible? Satomi wrestles with several theorems on the matter. Mostly, what must they have done to her brain to allow such a thing to happen? Reina obviously attached something behind her ears. If only she could have gotten some time alone with Reina but she seemed awfully nervous. There are so many questions she just has to ask. Maybe she can arrange some time with William-san. Then again, would he really be willing to part with such inside knowledge? Probably not to some upstart kid, at least. If the purpose of the convention was to pique her interest, they succeeded.

That's why she has to ask Reina directly. Though it is too late, she figures. If only she could have cornered the white haired girl. She is truly a strange person indeed. She'd fit right in with the vampire, the martial artist, the ninja… the girl who becomes a giant robot. Yeah, that's as logical as anything else. Enough of the rest of her class, she needs to plot out a way to get back here at some point and speak with Reina. But how will she do that? Reina didn't exactly seem to be the friendly type. No, she was the nervous and hesitant type, almost like Nodoka.

Reina sits alone in a room, her room. It's been her room for the… well for as long as she can remember. Ever since William Whitehall… No. It's only because of Hisao that she's thinking like this. She is leaning forward as she thinks, resting her head on her arms, which, in turn, are being supported by her desk. She is feeling awful for what happened today with the black mech and that other boy. With a heavy sigh, the white haired girl buries her head. The silence in her room is deafening. A knock on the door breaks it and Reina sits up. "Come in," she says.

Her father comes in. He's quiet for a few moments before asking, "You okay?"

Reina nods. "Yeah, I'm fine."

"You don't look it. I can tell when something is bothering you." He put his hand on her shoulder.

"It's just everything that happened today," Reina says, "that's all."

"I know," William states. He waits for a few seconds before saying, "I think it's about time for a change of pace, what do you think? Something to get your mind off of things."

"What do you mean?" Reina asks.

"Well, you've been here so long that you've developed that fear. Perhaps doing what we were talking about will be just what you need."

"I will then. I need to get over this fear… It's so stupid."

"No… You are who you are. I blame myself for it. There's so little female presence here."

After a good yawn, Reina says, "I'm going to bed a little early." She gets up from her chair.

"Okay. I'll say good night then and I'll get you set up there tomorrow that way you can start Monday. Okay?"

"That'll be fine. Good night, dad."

"Good night, sweetheart." William gives her a fatherly hug. He quietly left her room shortly after.

* * *

"Wake up, Negi-sensei," Satomi prods. "We've returned."

The cab stops somewhere within Mahora, not too far from the dorms. The cabbie says nothing as they come to a stop. Satomi nudges Negi awake and he wakes gently. The two eventually exit the cab from their respective sides. When they are clear of the cab, he drives away to parts unknown. Satomi is slow to walk in to the dorms and head to her room. She hasn't actually slept in her bed in quite some time. It'll be nice to get a comfortable place to sleep for once. Heavy desks can only provide so much cushioning… and by that I mean none at all.

Right after exiting, Negi yawns and stretches. He's been resting most of the late half of the day but still feels like he should get some sleep. Today was hectic even for a day with his class. Negi follows Satomi in.

"Negi-sensei…" Satomi says, "Thanks for coming with me."

"I rather enjoyed seeing those robots, mechs, and such," states Negi.

"Actually, I'm kind of jealous," the scientist admits, "I would have loved to ride inside one of those things."

This brings back the embarrassing thing Reina had said to him earlier and of course, with the way Satomi just phrased it… dirty Negi. He turns red at the thought. "Umm… yeah. Well, I need to get to bed. After today, I'm a little exhausted."

They both head in the dorm building and to their respective rooms.

Negi goes in to find a sleeping Asuna and Konoka, still up, dressed for bed and reading a book. "Hi, Negi. How did it…" she catches sight of her roommate's wrappings, "what happened to your head?"

"It's a long story that starts at the moment we arrived." Konoka listens intently as Negi relates a small version of the events of the day. "And I woke up in a hospital bed several hours later."

"Wow. Sounds like you had an exciting day. Except for the hit to the head, it seems like it all went well. Sounds like you also made a new friend."

"Maybe, but I highly doubt I'll see her again. From what I can tell, it seems like she has all she needs there."

"Who says you couldn't go back?"

"While you are right, it is a bit of a trip there. It's too much of a hassle, besides I have work here."

"Yeah. It's too bad though." she smiles, "A boy and his giant robot friend defeating the bad guys..." Konoka, after placing a bookmark in it, closes the book she has been reading. "Anyway, I'm going to bed. Good night Negi-kun."

"Good night, Konoka," Negi replies. With that, sleep calls for him to join its ranks and he gladly accepts.

* * *

Reina sleeps comfortably in her bed and dreams. She dreams of the events of the day and of times past.

Hisao's return is quite large in her mind. All the old memories come flooding back, especially that one training exercise in the desert. The day that seemed to start it all. She starts fidgeting as she dreams and soon wakes with a start. Looking at the clock reveals that it is nearly four in the morning. The red glow of the clock features the 24 hour standard of 0400. A light film of sweat covers her. "Must have been a bad one."

She climbs out of bed and walks to the nearby bathroom, turning the lights on when she gets there. With that out of the way, she goes to the sink and turns the water on, splashing it on her face. The knobs squeak as she turns them off. After she is done and then dries her face off with the nearby hand towel, she looks at herself briefly in the mirror and it reflects her image perfectly. "Why now?"

The mirror reflects her reaching up and turning out the lights. Having walked this path many times before, the white haired girl is able to walk back to bed with the lights off. Her eyes are still in a fair amount of shock from the short exposure to light they have just received. She makes it her to her bed and without much trouble, sleep takes her again.

She sleeps peacefully until she wakes again at roughly 0830 hours, ready to start a new day of testing mechs.

* * *

Sunday morning comes as it does every 7 days or so, depending on whether. Today was sunny and mild with temps quite pleasing. Negi decides to hit up the Nurses Office to have them look at the wound on his head. He emerges a little while later with a fresh bandage on his head. From the way it sounds, he should be able to have a standard adhesive bandage tomorrow.

Walking at a chipper pace, he heads to the exit, ready to go to Eva's to train. The warmth of the sun beams down on him as he walks along the sidewalk. After a short distance, he sees Ayaka coming from the other direction. The class rep looks happy to see her beloved sensei at first and then shock settles in on her face, her eyes bulging at the sight before her. Within a moment's notice she dashes up to her favorite little teacher.

"Negi-sensei, what happened?!" she asks, kneeling to match his height and jumping to a conclusion, which is a heck of a trick to watch. "Did Asuna do something to hurt you? I could easily have it arranged to have you moved to my room. Yes, it will be cramped but we will make due. I will make sure of it." She seems even more resolute than ever. "This is the last straw. Asuna has become too reckless. Come, let's go make those changes." She stands up and grabs the boy's hand, ready to drag him into her future.

"You're jumping to conclusions. It wasn't anything like that!" protests Negi. "It happened at the exposition Satomi and I visited yesterday."

"So that's where you were yesterday. Asuna didn't tell me anything. And now I find that Satomi was irresponsible with you." Ayaka shakes her head. "I am going to speak with Satomi then."

"Ayaka-san, wait," Negi says. "It was my fault. I got wrapped up in a demonstration and forgot to strap myself in."

"Then that company is at fault. They should have warned you. I can have them sued if you wish."

"There's no need for that. I ignored her. I was inside her and when we got into it I hit my head after getting tossed about because things started getting rough." Negi realizes he said something incredibly stupid with a slap to his forehead. Whether whatever he just let out of the bag was a cat or a lion is yet to be seen.

In response, Ayaka passes out, Negi catching her before she can meet the sidewalk face to pavement. "Ayaka-san! Wake up!" He tries his best to get air moving around her, flapping his hand and finally settling on reciting his release and a small little cantrip meant to flutter the curtain in a room. Great prank, but the spell can be useful in certain situations. Especially like this one.

"Come on…" Negi pleads as he controls the breeze to send it past the fainted blonde. It rustles her hair gently as it does so. Negi thinks she looks kind of… "No, no, no," he thinks, "those kinds of thought aren't proper."

After a few moments Ayaka wakes up and sees his face. "My dear sweet Negi-sensei is no longer the honorable gentleman I admired," she mutters weak and dejectedly.

"You've got it wrong. I phrased it in an incredibly stupid manner. You see she… how can I put this? Well, she can become a giant robot. And I got to ride in the machine she was. Understand?"

"Not really, but if you say that nothing happened between you two, then I trust you."

"No we didn't. Even she made light of the situation."

"I'm not sure how that would work but if that is what you say happened then I trust you."

"I hurt my head while riding in the mech. We got into a fight by surprise and during it we got thrown. I hit my head on some monitors I had asked to be dropped down so I could see. So you see it really was my fault."

Ayaka stands up and gives him a small hug. "As long as you are okay, that is what matters." She puts her hand gently on top of his head. "I have to go but if you wish to come with me I would be honored."

Negi explains, "Actually, I was on my way somewhere."

"Of course, Negi-sensei. I shall not keep you any longer." Ayaka tells him and bows.

They both part ways as they make their head to their respective places to go, Ayaka with a slightly elevated heart rate and a warm fuzzy feeling. Even after all of his convincing, Ayaka still feels that the best place for him would be with her.

Negi continues to walk to Evangeline's, hopefully without any more interruptions. He doesn't get very far before fate once again shoves someone he knows into his path. Makie Sasaki, the class' gymnast. 

He tries to look as nonchalant and "blend in with the crowd" as possible which fails because there wasn't that many people around. Eva likely won't take him being late very well.

"Hey, Negi-kun!" Makie exclaims. "What happened to your head?!"

"It's not as bad as it looks. I was just careless is all," Negi states. "Let's just say I didn't buckle up."

"You were in a car accident?!"

"No! It is not that at all," Negi protests nicely. "I was at that robotics convention and I hit my head because I didn't buckle up during a demonstration." He hated to think of Reina as a demonstration because that made her sound like a thing.

"Clumsy Negi-kun," Makie giggles, "you need to be careful." She gives him a cute little hug.

"I know. Now—"

Makie cuts him off saying she needs to head to practice. It's a little late today because the coach is gone today and the substitute is late, or something. They amicably part ways and Negi continues on his way to Evangeline's. Fortune smiles on him during his travels and allows him to make it all the way to Evangeline's house without seeing anyone else. He steps up to the door and gives it a quick rapping.

Negi spends a couple of quiet moments outside before Chachamaru opens as always. The robot girl starts to say hello but she notices Negi's head. "Um, Negi-sensei, what happened to your head?"

Negi sighs. "I was at the… wait, I'd like to get Evangeline here as well."

"I'm already here boya," Eva answers. "What did you do to your head?"

Negi goes on to explain everything that happened to him yesterday. From 7:58 a.m. to when he woke up in a hospital bed. Or at least the details he can remember. Even though he seems to have done a good job remembering, he seems to think he is missing something. One thing he can think of that is missing is how he got to the hospital in the first place.

"You're telling me that they remove the mind from the body and place it in a machine?" The centuries old vampire asks, amazed at how much she has seen technology increase over her time.

"Yes," replies Negi.

"Huh… anyway, there is no slacking off where I am concerned, especially when we've just started, so let's get to it." The two leave for her resort and begin their secondary day training.

* * *

"Yes… Of course… We will be sure to take good care of her. We can't wait to have her as a student… I'm sure she will have a wonderful time here… We will make sure she won't have to worry about that… Yes. Goodbye." Konoemon Konoe; often just called Dean Konoe, or just Dean, sometimes Old Man, hangs up the phone. "Well, that went quite well."

"Sir?" Takahata asks.

"We will be getting a new student. She is the daughter of the owner of Kaminari Grand Industrial."

"That robotics company?"

"Yes. Reina Whitehall is her name and apparently she's already meet Negi during their expo yesterday. So I thought of placing her in that class since she has already met him."

"Well that's nice I guess. I'm sure she'll fit in just fine and Negi is a good teacher."

"Perhaps she will fit in. I hope this will be an experience for the both of them." The elderly gentleman opens a drawer in his desk and removes a notebook. He takes a pencil and scribbles down a note which he tears off, stuffs it in an envelope and licks the glue. "Why do they make this stuff taste so horrible?" he asks with a grimace on his face. After sealing it shut he hands to Takahata. "Make sure this gets to him."

"Of course." Takahata stands up with letter in hand and takes his leave, slipping it in his jacket pocket.

Konoe leans back in his chair. "He seems to gather friends easily… He will make a great mage some day." He then clicks his tongue in dissatisfaction of the glue's aftertaste. "Nasty stuff. Tastes like toad mucus."

* * *

"Come on. We've only just begun training. You can't be worn out now," Evangeline tells her recently taken on disciple. "You'll never get anywhere with that kind of stamina." Grabbing his breath, Negi comments that it has been well over an hour. "Fine. We'll break for now."

Negi takes this moment to sit down and relax. Chachamaru brings him a glass of water. "Here, you look like you could use this."

"Thank you very much Chachamaru." Negi foregoes any manners in favor of quenching his thirst. He gulps the water down. When finished he lets out a big exhale. The gynoid offers to take the glass back and Negi hands it to her.

"You are welcome, sensei." Chachamaru comments before leaving to make the glass ready for another use.

Evangeline approaches Negi and gets real close to him. It is almost like she is going to snuggle up with him. "I believe you owe me something." She moves her hand down from his face, down his chest, and a little lower. "You're heart is beating quite fast so, naturally, blood flow will be quite strong…" She quickly moves her hand down his waist and…

"E- E- Eva-sama, I—"

The petite vampire deftly moves her hand to the boy's wrist. She twists his arm and plunges her fangs ever so lightly into a vessel. The warm crimson fluid flows into her mouth as she lets it slide over her tongue, thoroughly tasting it before swallowing it. She takes several more sips before letting his arm go. With a lick of her lips she asks, "Was it as good for you as it was for me?"

Negi is a little lightheaded from the workout and then being drained. With a shake of his head, he comments, "Whoa… I'm a bit dizzy."

"So it is safe to say I rocked your world?" Eva asks with a devious smile.

After an hour long break, the teacher, the vampire, and the gynoid get back to training. Eva and Chachamaru put the boy through his paces again. When that is out of the way, it is class time for the boy. "A good workout energizes the mind for you living types," Eva told him.

After a full day of training and learning, Negi is worn out. Evangeline directs him to the baths and lets him to it. "He has had enough for now," she figures. There is always later for such things. She has already cleaned up and is getting ready to sleep while her protégé is enjoying his bath.

Taking special care of the wound on his head the whole time, Negi finishes up and dries himself off, and uses bandages Evangeline gave him. He changes into a set of clothes Eva had set aside, which is something else. The last thing he wants to know why she has boy's pajamas readily available. The whole process has only just begun, so the young mage hopes he'll be able to make a lot of progress. She's so powerful; there is no way he could _not_ get stronger. After climbing into the bed she let him use, he welcomes sleep as it settles in.

To think, less than an hour has passed on the outside world.

* * *

Takahata opens the door to the dormitory where Negi is rooming with Asuna and Konoka. Several girls open the other door and head out. He has the note tucked away safely in his inside pocket. Creaking issues forth from the stairs as he climbs them. Eventually he comes to the door of Konoka, Asuna, and Negi's room. Shoving the note in the slot would be irresponsible, so he decideds to knock on the door instead.

Asuna answers the door and immediately blushes. "Takahata-sensei!" His presence has taken her by surprise. This is so sudden! What could have brought him here, to her, at this moment?!

"Hello, Asuna. Would you be willing to do something for me?" Takahata asks the enraptured girl.

"Yes. A- anything you need."

"Could you make sure Negi-kun gets this note?" In response, he removes the note from his pocket. Its once squared corners now ever so slightly crumpled. "It's about a new student transfer and she's getting placed in your class."

Asuna, while still happy to be in the presence Takahata, is let down by the reason he has visited. "I will." With a defeated feeling, she takes the note.

"Thanks Asuna. See you around." Takahata holds up his hand in a gesture that says goodbye and takes his leave.

"Goodbye, Takahata-sensei." Asuna tells him as he is leaving. Many other things want to be said but she can't bring herself to say them at the moment… maybe at some other time she will be able to tell him her true feelings. For now, she closes the door and lets the words die.

Konoka is behind her when she turns around. "Whatcha get?"

"Oh, this is for Negi," Asuna replies. "It's about a new student."

Konoka got one of her usual smiles on her face. "Yay! A new classmate. I wonder what she looks like?"

Asuna looks at the letter, then at Konoka. "We could open it."

"It's Negi-kun's letter though," Konoka advises.

Asuna seems to be weighing the options before she comes up with an excuse for the ages. "You are the granddaughter of the one who wrote this so technically it would be like you are opening your own letter."

Konoka gives her red-headed friend a look on her face that is a strange combination of _this is wrong_, _it wouldn't be all that bad I suppose, _and _that's completely unrelated_. With no other apparent choices, she resolves herself with a sigh and an, "I can always talk to grandfather if need be."

"Thanks Konoka." Asuna adroitly moves her thumb under the side of the flap and rips the envelope open and by that I mean she had it there before Konoka agreed. "Okay, let's see what we got…" Asuna looks the letter over. "Her name is Reina Whitehall. What kind of stupid name is that? Probably some half-breed like Ayaka."

A chime went off in Konoka's head. "That name sounds familiar," she says while trying to remember where she has heard that name before.

"Really?"

"Yeah," the brunette says. "I can't put my finger on it exactly, but I have heard that name. Maybe it says later on in the letter."

Asuna continues to scan it. "You already know her from the way it sounds… met at the convention… heard you had a good time with the exception of the accident… hope you will show her great courtesy… Oh!" Asuna exclaims as she finds what they are looking for. "As you already know she is the daughter of the owner of Kaminari Grand industrial."

"That's where I heard that name," Konoka says as it dawns on her. "Kaminari is the company that did that convention yesterday and we have a job placement program with them for university level robotics students."

A bad look crosses Asuna's face after hearing that. "Just what we need… another Ayaka," her voice thick with disgust.

"Come on, Asuna!" Konoka giggles lightly as she speaks. "It can't be all that bad. I mean, we haven't even met her."

"Yeah, I suppose you are right. It wouldn't be fair if I didn't give her a chance."

"Anything else?"

Asuna looks back down at the letter. "Uuh… Nothing at all about her appearance. That's pretty much everything."

Seemingly passing over it all, Konoka says, "I guess we'll find out Monday." Quickly changing the subject, "How about we go get something to eat?" she asks. "We can tell everybody about this too."

"Sounds like a plan."

Negi leaves Eva's place a day or hour later depending on how you view it. With a wobble in his step, he barely makes his way down her steps and out into the sun. While he was training, Reina was training too, though she doesn't have the luxury of an extra day. The white haired girl's training consists of virtual simulations and spending most of her time out of her body.

"Is everything okay?" asks a technician. He speaks into a microphone.

There is a slight pause before a voice comes out of the speakers. "Yes, everything is good. This machine's a bit slow though. I can feel it."

A number of technicians take note of what she said.

Several people were looking into monitors at what would look like, to an outside observer, a video game. It is even more complex than Steel Battalion with all those buttons and switches. A small replica of a large red and black mech, with a launcher in each hand and a salvo of missiles on its back and shoulders, is displayed on screen. As far as shape goes, the red mech is bulky and square on its upper half and its legs are bulky and rounded.

"How about if we do this?" asks the same guy from before as another one flipped some switches.

"Ooh… that's much better. If you can keep mobility at that level without sacrificing energy output to vital systems I could handle that much better," suggests Reina.

"We'll do our best. It's hard getting everything dialed in when you're starting out."

"I understand completely. Just be careful with me, okay?"

The technician blushes lightly. "Umm… I'll do my best. When you are ready, we can get the test started."

"Okay." The red virtual machine lifts off the ground slowly and starts moving around a little. "It's still a bit slow."

"There is nothing we can do about that. The jets are meant to keep that heavy thing in the air and drop your munitions down. That's the reason it's called the Red Dragon," explains the technician.

"I know Daiki-san. It's just weird to get used to this new body. It's a lot taller than I am used to. And did we have to go with explosive weapons? There's a high chance of someone getting injured that isn't involved."

Daiki answers, "What can I say, war is hell sometimes."

"I know but that is why I am more excited about the space travel part of these machines."

"I am too, but we are a company with military contracts, and you are the best test pilot around."

"I appreciate the compliment. So what do we need to do today?"

Flipping some switches while answering, Daiki says, "We've got a simulated ten on one fight. Think you can handle it?"

"This thing is all about fire power, yes?" After Daiki answers that it is, Reina laughs lightly, "Should be a cinch then."

"Don't get to over confident now," Daiki advises her with a smile.

"Well, I might as well push it to its limits since it is a simulation after all. No harm no foul." She heads into battle as fast as the bulky floating mech can handle. "For a dragon, this doesn't exactly command the skies…" Bullets rip through the air as she is suddenly fired upon by a group of 6 black machines that all take off and head in her direction, skating along the ground with their jets. In response, she levels her launcher at them and fires of a single round at the closest target. A concussive force shoved her around when she fires the launcher. The red mech flies around uncontrollably for a bit.

"Whoa! What the heck?" she asks as the kickback genuinely takes her by surprise, forcing her thought the air like a ragdoll.

Daiki chuckles a bit. "It's the gun, it's a top of the line when delivering maximum payload. So there's going to be some kick back. Just be glad you didn't fire off both at once. You'll have to get used to it."

All but one of the targets survived and somehow the other five found the original group and decided to join up, making it a nine on one fight. She is soon encircled by enemies, getting shot at. With the boosters all that's tactically viable is to shut her boosters off. As she plummets, she twists the bulk of her body to face the ring of enemies. Several volleys from her back mounted missile pods miss their mark, exploding far behind the ring of mechs, illuminating the virtual sky behind them.

"The aiming software is odd. It drags to the left for four seconds and then switches to dragging up," she says to the technicians.

Making a quick note, one of the technicians quietly comments, "One of the many problems found today."

A thunderously loud bang sounds out as she hits the ground, on her feet. With enemies on her tale she boosts over to and around a fake building. After placing her back against a wall, she opens up her shoulder mounted missile boxes. With an incredible amount of force she fires of her boosters for up and down movement, rising up against the side of the building. The swarms of enemies surround her last known position.

They quickly work out that up is the only direction she could go and follow their thoughts up with actions admitting the same. A small swarm of missiles hit several targets, not destroying them but seriously wounding them.

After a small grunt in frustration, she lifts up and fires the other launcher resulting in the same wobbly flight as before. "I won't lose to a bunch of simulated junk heaps!" Red Dragon Reina opens the missile racks along her back and shoulders. "I'm going to give it everything I've got!"

Aiming down upon her enemies she fires off a swarm of missiles and a round from both launchers. Suddenly, the monitors in the testing room all turn white. Soon the light dies down and the virtual landscape is a smoldering crater. Dust kicks up from the force of her thrusters as she lands. The salvos close up and the launchers lower once her feet touch ground.

"Great job, Reina-sama," commends Daiki.

Reina admits, "I'd have a hard time coming to terms with having to do that in real life. I know it."

"That's a good thing. You don't want to enjoy senseless slaughter. Ready to come back?"

"The firepower of this thing…" muttering to herself, Reina is in awe. "It's amazing! It actually scares me a bit."

"Reina-sama?"

"Huh? Oh yeah. I'm ready to go back." The simulation blinks out of existence and Reina finds herself waking up back in her own body. Gently, she reaches up and removes the wires attached to her head. Daiki is there to watch, leaning against the metal doorframe. "So did you get any data worth it?"

"Quite a lot actually. The firepower of the Red Dragon is immense," Daiki admits. "I will bring up just how irresponsible it would be to start mass producing them. And I will suggest we keep the one we have locked away."

"Thanks. Maybe more than one voice expressing their concerns will be better than one." Reina smiles.

"Though I'm sure they value your voice over mine."

"That's only because of my father. Either way, it's nice to have some back-up."

Daiki stands up straight. He walks over to Reina and ruffles her short white hair. "You're a good kid."

"Kid?!" Reina seems to have taken a small bit of offense. "You're only ten years older than me."

Smiling, Daiki replies, "Yep. A kid."

Scoffing at him, Reina says, "That's unfair, I mean, look at me I could easily pass for older than 'kid.'"

"Fine then, I'll concede with 'teen.'"

They both share a laugh before Reina gets called away because she has received a package.

Reina hurries down the hall because she is sure she knows what it is. They sent it so she could put it on without having to worry about time constraints, even though she was planning on getting a room there to cut down on having to make such a long trip every day. She spots her father with a carrier bag.

"Is that it?" Reina asks eagerly.

"Yes it is," William tells her as he hands the bag, "direct from Mahora Academy… your very own uniform."

"I want to try it on," says the new Mahora student resolutely. She looks around and finds a unisex restroom. With a mighty swing open she asks loudly, "Anyone in here?" With no answer coming forth she assumes correctly that it is safe to go in.

Watching his daughter enter, William reaches into his right front pocket. He has something else for her trip to Mahora, something that she will hopefully never need to use the greatest function of. With a quiet plastic click, the cellphone he is holding opens. It looks like a standard ordinary cellphone of the day. It was a nice red color with a silver trim, a camera, and an outer screen that displayed the time. He looks it over for some time and gets wrapped up in some game that came with it. Anyway, what it can do, that no other mobile can is…

Reina pokes her head out of the restroom.

"Everything okay?" William asks as he looks up from the game.

Reina looks embarrassed. "Not really…"

"What's the matter?"

"Well, the uniform…" replies the girl peaking her head out of the door, "it… has a skirt."

"Is that it?"

"It's just that it's a bit… drafty."

William gets a supportive smile on his face. "Come on. It can't be all bad.

Reina laughs a sarcastic laugh as she steps out into the hallway. The red on her face told the story. "I don't see how this could get much worse."

"It's all part of the bigger plan," William says, "and if it's any consolidation, I think you look okay."

"I'm going to change back. I hope this will all be worth it."

"Why don't you try it wearing it around a bit first? They sent a rack of them so there isn't any worry about dirtying the ones you have on now. Also…" her father hands the phone over to her. "I want to present you with this."

"A mobile!" she squeals. "Thank you, thank you, thank you! I know I never needed on here since there are phones everywhere, but this one is mine! And I love the color."

Before it can get any further, William interjects. "Now slow down a bit. We've modified this one."

"How so?"

"See that button next to the camera lens?"

"Yeah."

"When you press it, it activates a signal that will send you a mech you choose from an in phone menu."

Not believing her ears Reina asks, "Really?"

William nods. "Yes. It'll send out a signal that our satellites will locate and then a simple program will launch it and send it to your location, even if you are on the move. It's my hope that you'll never have to use it."

"Father… Thanks." Reina gives her father a big hug.

"You're welcome. And by the way, have you gotten used to wearing that skirt?"

Reina realizes something. "I forgot I had it on."

"All part of my plan. You were distracted by the phone and forgot about the skirt," he smiles as he tells her. "Just focus on other things and you'll never notice."

* * *

Negi comes wobbling into the shared room. The room is dark and empty when he arrives. Earlier, Chamo said he was going to go do "field research" which the ten year old boy was sure meant he was out stealing panties. And who knows where Asuna and Konoka went. Sluggishly, he sits down near the table. The ripped up envelope on it catches his eye. He picks it up and removes the letter, learning everything that Asuna and Konoka did before him as he reads the letter.

The first thing to cross his mind is what she said to him before they went into battle. He turns red again. "So she's going to be one of my students now. I wonder what is bringing her out here?" Negi smiles as he says, "another student to look out for and make sure I guide correctly. Just like the rest, I cannot fail her."

**Negima: Femella Intra Machina Chapter 02: End**

**End of the Chapter Stuff:** I know what you are thinking, and yes I just wrote a 10000 word transition. (Though the actual content is less than that. Stupid notes.) I wouldn't call this filler, just a transition. A segue into a better next chapter. So all in all, I just wrote a 20000 word intro before the story picks up at a point someone might actually recognize. I hope you are still with me after this chapter. (A low point this early in the game… I seem to do that a lot.)

I spent a lot of time this chapter listening to various SNES game soundtracks while writing this. Chrono Trigger and Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars are two of my favorites.

I hope to have the next chapter out quicker than it took to get this one out. I only see one problem with that… This one was about 1/3 complete when the first chapter came out. Such bulky chapters, what a pressure I have placed, on one who's lazy. (Yay, haiku.)

**Thanks for Reading! (Especially after this chapter.)**


	3. Fear And Loathing? In Mahora

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Negima in any way, shape, or form. It _is_ owned by Ken Akumatsu. I simply own Reina Whitehall, William Whitehall, and Hisao. I also own the mechs, Ivory Knight and Ebony Knight.

I also do not own "The Litany Against Fear." It is property of Frank Herbert and appears in the novel "Dune."

**Author's Notes:** Not much to say here except, I hope you are still with me and will continue to be with me through to the end of this, which by my calculations, should take forever.

This is also another transitional chapter. However, there should be a part of the story you recognize in this one. If I had gone down the typical "Original Character shows up at Mahora suddenly" route, I would have been done by now. But I wanted to do something different. This time, the canon characters end up where the original character is and they end up following the canon characters home.

Anyway, I still have a lot planned and a lot has happened already that will echo into the future.

**Negima: Femella Intra Machina**

**By Dark Dragon Dave**

**Chapter 03: Fear (And Loathing?) In Mahora**

Monday's morning sun rises and introduces the birth of a new day. Loudly chirping, the birds announce their presence to all who will listen. It is another day at Mahora and everyone is preparing for class. Amazingly, the trio of Asuna, Konoka, and Negi are on schedule this morning after having woken up at a normal time. Spending his time sleeping, Chamo had come in late from his panty raids last night. Humming a happy tune, Konoka cooks breakfast. Asuna and Negi are dressing for the day.

Konoka, still happily humming away; divvies up the eggs, bacon, and orange juice. Just so… there we are. With the utmost balance and skill, she carries all three plates to the table and sits them down where everyone usually sits, striding off to get the glasses of orange juice and toast afterwards. While she is in the kitchen, Negi and Asuna join the table and sit down to Konoka's hearty breakfast.

Negi, even with a full night's sleep under his belt, looks a little worse for wear. His training with Evangeline is showing it's wear and tear on the young boy.

"You look wore out," Asuna comments quietly, "I assume it's that training with Evangeline."

"Yes. She's not taking it easy on me. But then again, it wouldn't be training if I was taking the easy route."

With a blank expression on her face the red head comments, "Just watch yourself, I wouldn't put anything past her. She's conniving, devious, soulless and just generally not a nice person."

"I think there is some good way down deep in her. I really do. But for most of her," explains Negi, "time on this world she's only ever had herself to rely on. I can't imagine what it is like to continue living while those around you grow old and die. It could make a person cold and shut themselves off from the world."

Asuna mulls this over quietly. In that time, Konoka returns with the juice and toast, handing one glass and two slices to Asuna, Negi, and then herself. "Time to eat."

* * *

Kazumi Asakura checks over her notes on the class, rifling through stacks and stacks of paper. She has a computer, but nothing beats raw copies, handwritten data, and of course photographic evidence. With them getting a new classmate, her files will become incomplete and her pride simply will not allow that to happen. She had spent most of her time yesterday, after finding out they were getting a new classmate, looking up Reina Whitehall. Most of the data on her seems fresh, coming in on late Saturday afternoon. Seems like there was a giant robot fight at the convention Negi went to with Satomi and she was the pilot of one of them.

A blog she finds this morning declares they have inside info and a video.

"Saturday, as most of the high tech world, including such luminaries as _Aperture Science_ and _Cybus Industries_, were gathered at Kaminari Grand Industrial, a fight broke out between two mechs, resulting in large scale destruction. Out of nowhere an explosion rang out through the company grounds, shaking the very ground everyone walked on for miles," she reads.

The class paparazzo knows an exaggeration when she sees one. "That's shot full of holes... I got better information from local news."

Maybe the video will prove to be more informative… or at least chuckle worthy. She feels odd, not being on the edge of the story. News stories like this don't show up every day, especially when life decides to give you the source. Upon clicking, her perspective on the story changes.

There are two mechs, a black one and a white one, trading blows at the edge of what looks like a city. The edge of a city with a giant parking lot. The black mech thrusts forward with its sword. Even with the video getting all choppy as the white one spins around, Kazumi can still make out what is going on. With artifacts all over, she can see the white mech wrap its arm around the sword arm of the black machine and then punch the black one in the face several times. The video continues on and Kazumi sees the black one flee into the buildings, the white one electing not to follow.

The white machine stays still for a few moments before turning around only to get walloped by the boosting black machine. She continues the fight to its conclusion.

"Huh… I suppose this was pointless… I am going to be speaking with her in about an hour anyway. I can go to the source and be ahead of even major news outlets." She smiles at the thought of being able to get an edge on the juicy story that has just landed on her lap. "And I can add her data to my class notes."

* * *

Reina gets up earlier than usual. With a much longer trip ahead of her it's a necessity. She did some packing last night since she will be staying at the campus. Her father said it would be fine since they have plenty of other test pilots. When Reina said that she was the only one that could become the machines, William told her with a smile on his face that they'll make due and that everyone will just have to deal with it. And there are always weekends if she can work them in, if not she needn't worry about it.

She brushes her short white hair for what she's decided shall be the last time till she gets moved in. The hair brush gets placed down hard at her desk.

Waving her hands in front of herself, she says, "No. Enough." Her hair will only be so brushed after all.

A lot of what she is doing is out of fear and nervous fidgeting. It took a few hours yesterday, but she got used to the uniform, even if her legs still felt cold. Maybe getting over her fear will be as easy.

With a quick glance at the clock on the wall and a few deep breaths, it's time to leave and get started with a new chapter in her life. She stands up, walks to her bed, slings a backpack on her back and takes a suit case in hand.

Before leaving her room, with her gentle yet skillful hand resting on the knob, she mutters to herself… "I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain." _The Litany Against Fear_ does little to quell her nerves.

* * *

She arrives at Mahora about an hour later; stepping out onto the grounds of what will be her new home for a while. The excitement of this new adventure keeps her from worrying about the others back home. According to what she was told she would meet a one "Takahata Takamichi" when she arrived. He must be that guy in the suit over there. He's waving at her.

The guy in the suit walks over to the girl with the short white hair as her ride leaves. "You must be Reina Whitehall. I am Takahata Takamichi. I will be directing you around…" He stares at her hair and eyes for a moment. Something about them reminds him…

"Yeah, I like to keep it shorter. About this length is good for me. Not shoulder length, not a buzz cut." She can smell the cigarettes on him. Ah well, to each their own. Some of the stuff she's been exposed to probably isn't the best stuff either.

Takahata shakes his head quickly. "I'm sorry. I hope I didn't make you feel uncomfortable." he says, embarrassed.

"No. It's okay. You'd be surprised at how many people think I should have longer hair… but I don't. Sucks for them," she says with a smile. "Besides, I've never had time to let it grow so I just keep it this way because I'm used to it."

"What can I say, some people aren't used to the idea of girls with shorter hair," he shrugs. "Would you like me to carry your bags or anything while we are on the way to the Headmaster's Office?"

Reina thinks for a second. "If you want, I suppose you could carry my suitcase," she tells him.

Takahata takes the suitcase and can feel something weighty on the bottom but decides not to mention it. "Now if you'll follow me."

Inside the Headmaster's Office, Reina sits in a chair in front of the desk. Behind the desk sits Dean Konoemon, most influential man in Mahora. Great matters of mage and mundane are often carried on in here. This morning however, it handles the matters of one 15 year old girl.

"First off, I would like to bid you welcome to Mahora Academy," the elderly gentleman says. "We hope you'll be able to further your education and self enrichment during your stay here."

Reina says, "Thank you. I know you were told one reason why I am coming here, but I don't want it to be the only reason. I really would like to make an effort here. Otherwise it seems like I am using your school here for nothing but myself, and that seems awfully selfish of me."

"Good. I like to see an eager student, wanting to put an effort into both their education and improving themselves," commends Konoemon. "Not saying anything against the instructors at Kaminari, and from the looks of your records they did quite well."

Reina gains an embarrassed smile, "Thanks, but I like to think I am average when it comes to that. I haven't really ever had anyone to compare to. Would it be okay if I ask a question?"

"Of course, what is it that you would like to ask?"

"Why did you send so many uniforms to me when I am going to be staying here?"

Konoemon looks confused. "How many were sent?"

"Quite a few. It must have been an entire closet's worth. I'm pretty sure it was a mix up so if need be call my father and he'll send them right along. I already packed a few," she says and points to her suitcase.

Konoemon sighs, "That's strange. Things like this have been happening for a couple of days now. I apologize for any inconvenience that may have caused you."

"Hey, don't worry about it. Stuff happens." Reina's expression says not to worry about it.

"Now we come to who you will be rooming with. We have a couple of options available. I believe you've met Satomi Hakase."

Reina thinks back to the convention and how much the bespectacled girl kept trying to get closer to her and look at the connections behind her ears. A hesitant look appears on her face. "Eh heh heh… Umm… Is there another option?"

"Well, there is Chisame Hasegawa. She's by herself in her room."

"That sounds like it'll work," she replies nervously. The thought of rooming with a girl… this is going to be hell.

The old man looks at her with a critical eye. "Will you be okay with that?"

"Yeah, yeah," The nervous girl answers slowly. "I'm going to have to be aren't I?"

"That is true," Konoemon states. "Now, Takahata-san there will escort you to class and deliver your belongings to your room."

Reina stands up. "Thank you. I'll do my very best."

Konoemon smiles at her an old man smile. "That's all I ask. Coincidentally, one of your classmates will be my granddaughter, Konoka Konoe. Maybe you two will become friends."

Reina laughs with a slight bit of hesitation. "Let's stick to small steps at first."

"Of course, of course," the older man says. "As I have said, I hope your time here will be filled with plenty of learning and self-improvement. Takahata-san, make sure Chisame Hasegawa is informed."

Reina bows before she leaves his presence. "Thank you, sir." Takahata nods and takes up the role of bellhop again, which is something he doesn't mind. Though her white hair and green eyes… It's best to just forget it. It's nothing.

"I certainly hope I am not being any trouble for you, Takahata-sensei," Reina ponders aloud.

"Not at all."

"Then I hope I am not getting preferential treatment because of my father."

"Again that'd be a no." The teacher says, "This gives me a chance to get to know you better. You are going into a class I used to teach."

"I feel like I am missing out on so much back story," comments Reina. Aren't we all?

"They can be a bit of a handful sometimes, but Negi-kun does a good job," comments Takahata. "Hopefully you won't give him too much trouble."

"No worries there," Reina tells him. Neither one of them notice the _Famous Last Words_ feeling.

Takahata says with a smile, "You don't seem the firebrand type."

* * *

Students are starting to pile into Class 3-A. The chatter is mostly about the upcoming field trip to Kyoto and Nara. A few are talking of the new student. Evangeline is sitting in the back, silent as ever.

"So what kind of stuff do you think we'll be able to get?"

"Stuff? Why would you go for something like that?"

"That's right, you don't need any. Besides, you'll probably want to spend time with Negi-kun."

"This should prove to be highly educational."

"You _would_ go for the learning."

"Maybe they'll have something interesting to drink."

"I can see you becoming an alcoholic with all those odd drinks."

"All the damn chatter, I can't hear myself think."

On the other side of the door, two parties converge. Negi Springfield, Reina Whitehall, and Takahata Takamichi stand in the hall outside Class 3-A.

"Oh," Reina says as she drops her backpack and walks over to Negi, "it's good to see you again." The white haired girl is giving him a big hug at this point. "How's your head been?"

"It's fine. I hope this wasn't the reason you came out here and signed up for classes?" he asks as she stops and puts him down.

Reina took a moment before speaking. "It's not that at all, though I still do feel awful about it."

"You're still worried about my head? Don't feel bad. It was my recklessness like I said," Negi explains. "Now let's get you introduced to the class."

"Only if you say so."

"One second Negi-kun," the senior teacher interjects. "Could you make sure that Chisame Hasegawa is informed that Reina will be her roommate?"

Negi nods. "Of course."

"Good." He holds up Reina's belongings. "I'll take these to your new room." And with that, he walks away, leaving the two by themselves in the hallway.

"Come on; let's go meet your classmates," the boy says as he looks up at his new student and nods his head towards the door.

Reina mutters to herself again and breathing heavily. "I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear…"

"Excuse me?"

Reina shrugs it off while her breath quickens. "Nothing," she says with a half-hearted smile that betrays her voice.

The two enter the room and everyone stands up. Negi takes his place at the front of the room while Reina becomes quickly aware that there are 60 eyes looking at her… well some were looking at Negi, but she could still feel the others. Her willpower starts cracking almost instantly under the pressure of being looked at. Her breath quickens, heart races, and thoughts try to distract.

"Kittens, perhaps? No… How about Puppies? No…" she thinks. "Cute isn't working. How about food? I'm not really hungry so… Ehh, anyway… cheese? Bread? Umm… sandwiches. Now I am making myself hungry. I suppose that's better than afraid. I must not fear, I must not fear, I must not fear."

Negi asks again, "Reina-san?"

"Huh?!" she asks as she snaps back to reality. This causes some of the now sitting students to laugh.

"Would you like to introduce yourself?"

"Um, okay." She turns to the group of scary girls and starts. "I- I- I am Reina… Whitehall and…" The pressure! The fear! Aaaah! The world starts swirling and collapsing in her mind. So many things are running through her thoughts.

Negi can tell something isn't right. "Are you okay?"

Reina gives him a look that says, "Help me." With that, a wave of calm falls over her. Apparently she can't take it anymore and the only possible thing to do is pass out. Her vision closes to black as she falls.

"Reina-san!" Negi shouts as she begins to plummet. He moves to prevent her from becoming friends with the floor. She's a bit much for him thanks to size advantage, and they both tumble to the ground. Reina ends up on top of Negi, her lips resting on his lips. His eyes bulge at this. With a blaze of speed he quickly disengages with her face. This could get him fired, or dead if his accidental kissing partner decided she didn't like this.

A film of the Ivory Knight aiming her rifle at him as she pulls the trigger plays in the movie theatre of his mind. "Ako-san, could you help?" he asks the Nurse's Office rep, not wanting to become a smoldering hole in the ground. He also realizes this is the second time a girl has fainted in his presence in as many days.

"Yes, sensei." Ako stands up quickly and rushes over to her fallen sensei and the girl he tried valiantly to save and ended up getting a surprise reward from. 3-A's nurse checks for pulse and breathing, both of which are present and good. "She's just fainted." Ako goes to roll the passed out Reina over like a late night drunk, though she's heard that you should roll them over to their front to keep them from choking on their own vomit. That's how Jimi Hendrix died… or so she's heard. She sees the metal connections behind her ears before flipping her. "What are those?"

"Ignore them," suggests Negi.

Hakase sees this as a golden opportunity, deciding to "help out" as well. The unconscious girl is flipped over by Satomi and Ako.

Chisame watches this whole thing transpire and thinks, "You've got to be kidding me. I feel sorry for whoever gets to be her roommate."

Negi stands up and speaks to the class. "Well… Umm… Anyway, even with recent developments, we still need to keep focused on our studies. Just because we have a field trip coming up is no reason to slack off. Now, Ayaka-san, as class rep, I am placing my trust in you to keep everyone focused while I see that Reina is taken to the Nurse's Office."

"Yes, Negi-sensei. You can trust me with anything," she says, hoping to score some points with her favorite little sensei.

Asking the rest of the class, Negi says, "Does someone want to help me?"

"I'll help," Asuna pipes up.

Negi is surprised at Asuna's sudden willingness to help. "R- really?"

Asuna gives him a rotten look. "Hey, why so surprised?"

"Can we talk about it later?" Negi asks. "We have a girl passed out on the floor."

"I'd like to help too," Satomi tells him.

"Oh, no you don't. You're going to stay here," the boy teacher instructs because he can see right through her plot. "I know the reason you want to come along. You are not going to be taking advantage of her like that. We all have our secrets and you should respect that. If she wants to share hers, then she will. Until then, leave her alone."

"Oh, like you can talk boya. You seemed pretty loose with the information yesterday," Evangeline speaks up to put her new disciple in his place.

Most of the students are in the dark about what they are talking about. Quite a few are surprised that Evangeline spoke just now.

"What are those things behind her ears?" Ako asks her teacher.

"Not now." Negi stands up. "Ku-Fei, could you help Asuna move her? No you aren't helping Satomi-san."

Ku-Fei stands up and with Asuna, clusters near Negi, Satomi, Ako, and Fainty, err… Reina. Asuna and Ku-Fei lift the passed out Reina off the floor and proceed to drag her blanked out body out of the class room.

"Also, before I leave, Chisame-san…" Negi says. She pays disinterested attention to him. "Reina is going to be your roommate." With that, he leaves without a second thought on the subject.

The secret net idol's mouth drops open and stays there temporarily in an "Uwah?!" expression. "This can't be at all!" she screams inside her own head. "Who did I anger to deserve this?!"

* * *

Several minutes after dropping her off, Negi is still at Reina's bedside. Asuna and Ku-Fei went back to class after Asuna protested she wanted to stay there. Negi told her Reina would be fine and that, out of everyone, she's the one that needs the most improvement.

Negi looks at Reina. "I would have used my magic like I did with Ayaka, but everyone was watching. And it's best if I don't so I don't mess anything up." He thinks back to the Ivory Knight and its gun and gulps at the thought. "No… she wouldn't do anything like that."

Reina begins to stir, like experiencing a mild nightmare, her fidgeting ruffling the blankets. The green of her eyes show as she slowly opens them. A groan escapes as she sits up and looks around and spots Negi. "I passed out didn't I?"

"Yes you did," answers Negi. He's glad she's awake. "You looked scared up there, what happened?"

Reina looks down and away with a red tint on her face. "Umm… c- c- can you keep a secret?" she asks while slinking back down in bed.

This is all very strange to the young boy. "I can," he replies, even though his track record proves otherwise.

With the covers pulled half over her face, she looks at Negi and reveals, "I… I am afraid of girls."

This information is quickly halted by all logic in the teachers head. A girl… who's afraid of girls… hmm. Something in his head pings this as being… odd. "You're afraid of girls?" Reina nods a yes. "I didn't think that was–"

"It's the truth though." Pulling the covers over her head, she follows up with, "I must be an epic failure…"

"It's okay. I am a little curious as to why, but it's none of my business. As your teacher, it is merely my place to try and help you get over it." He thinks, "That does explain why she was ducking from Satomi."

"Get over it? After that, I don't see how." She moans, "I'm pathetic."

"No," protests Negi on the green eyed girl's point of view. "The best way to deal with a fear like this," because facing a dragon like this would probably get you killed, "is to face it head on and keep in mind that they aren't going to hurt you or anything. This isn't like a fear of dragons, or anything."

"Dragons?"

Negi laughs sheepishly as he realizes he has let out more information than he should. "Yeah. I know they don't exist, but I think it would be awful to get eaten by one."

Reina makes an observation based on her own experiences. "I think girls are far scarier."

"Well don't worry about that lot. Most of them are harmless. In fact, they seem to be quite eager to find out what those connections are behind your ears," Negi tells her. "I didn't know if you were okay with telling them, so I didn't say anything."

"Hmmm… I leave it up to you." Negi looks shocked at her response. "You know them best, so I'll leave that judgment up to you. I'm okay with them knowing but I don't know how they'll react."

It doesn't take Negi much time to work out the scenario.

* * *

Negi and Reina walk back into the classroom. "Perhaps the best thing to do would be to sit next to another girl. You know, to get used to the whole thing," he says quietly too her. "Take the seat next to Evangeline."

Nervously, Reina walks to her seat in the back of the class next to the vampire. She slides the seat out and sit down, moving the chair as close to the edge as possible.

"And just what do you think you're doing?" Evangeline asks irately.

"Ah! Umm… I- I- I'm just doing w- w- what he wanted."

With a heavy sigh, Eva ignores the whole thing. The vampire mutters, "Whatever." She glances over to her new white-haired desk mate. "So you're the one who can become the mech…" she ponders to herself. Ignoring the whole thing really does seem to be the right idea.

"Okay, everyone. Reina has decided to be upfront with everyone, but she felt like it would be best for me to handle things as far as the things behind her ears are concerned," Negi states. "Now I can tell you I am speaking from experience, because I circumstantially became part of the demonstration, that Reina can download her mind into a giant robot."

A large and obviously quite concise "What?!" came from most of the class. Eva didn't care, Satomi already knew, and Chachamaru didn't see the big deal as she's always been a robot.

"Now don't confront her about it, okay?" Negi asks the class. "We need to focus on your studies and our field trip."

Most of the class blatantly ignores his instructions and swarms the desk occupied by the tall, white haired, green eyed, 15 year old girl and the short, blonde haired, blue eyed, centuries old vampire. This inevitably scares the now cowering Reina and ticks off Evangeline, who doesn't appreciate the company of teenage girls.

"Will you all back off?! Sit down and shut up!" Eva commands, causing her timid desk mate to startle.

Ayaka agrees. "Yes. Negi-sensei has specifically asked us not to do that. You lot are like a child with a new toy."

That does little to stop the flurry of, "Ooh, can we see the mech?," "Can I have a ride?," and such. Eventually Reina passes out again and Eva kills him for doing such an incredibly boneheaded thing.

* * *

Negi stops imagining the scene of what would be left of him after his master got through with him. The scene of horror causes him to shake his head.

"You okay?" Reina asks as she watches him snap out of it. She sat up again while he was daydreaming.

The boy laughs nervously in response. "Eh heh heh, if we tell them, I have an idea on how to do it without them swarming you and me ending up dead."

"Why would you end up dead?"

"It's best not to ask," advises Negi. "Now, my idea is…"

* * *

Homeroom is getting to the end when Negi comes back into the room. Everyone is quiet and mostly studying when he arrives, far from the total chaos he was expecting. Ayaka did a really good getting them in line.

"Thank you, Ayaka-san. You did a really good job," Negi compliments.

Ayaka turns slightly redder at this. "You are welcome sensei."

"Okay everyone, pay attention please." Negi continues, "Now, Reina woke up and she's okay with people knowing what is special about her but please don't swarm her or anything. Okay?" The class agrees to that. Apparently curiosity beat out the hive mind this time. "As some of you are likely aware, she is the daughter of the Kaminari Grand Industrial owner. Because of them, she can download her mind into a giant robot. I speak from experience because I became part of the demonstration by accident, and because of that, I ended up hitting my head and that is why I had bandages earlier. Everyone understand now?"

Makie is about to say something.

"It wasn't a car accident, Makie-san," he comments. With that out of the way he goes to the door to fetch the mech pilot girl.

The conversations spark up. How could such a thing be possible? Would she bring it to school? Would there be rides?

On the other side of said door, Reina has her arms crossed in front of her. She's got her eyes closed and is muttering to herself. "I must not fear. I must not fear…" Tears start to form in her eyes. "Why do I fear?"

The door to the classroom of horrors slides open. "Reina-san, are you ready?"

Few deep breaths and wiping her eyes help the nervous girl to steel her nerves. "I'm going to have to be, aren't I? I can't keep wasting everyone's time like this." She stands up straight and steps into the classroom boldly. When she enters, her will wants to shatter immediately. "MUST NOT FEAR!" runs through her mind loudly.

"You can take the seat in the back behind Yue Ayase. It's the fourth seat from the left." Negi points it out for her since there's no way she knows who Yue Ayase is.

"Right." As she walks to her newly appointed seat, she can feel some of the girls looking at her. "Paranoia that's all it is," she tells herself in her own head and sits down. Perhaps a distraction is in order. She removes from her pocket the phone her father gave her. She focuses on it, how it feels in her hand, its weight, the side that was against her and is warm from her body heat. The colors and how they react with each other.

"_Just focus on other things and you'll never notice"_ her father told her. Right, that is the key. With the phone and Negi there should be enough distraction. Just focus on those two things.

"Now we have the class field trip coming up next week." In response, the class cheered raucously.

A report sounds out from the door, a quick knock loud enough to be heard from his position. Shizuna has come to deliver a message from Dean Konoe. "The headmaster would like a word with you, Negi-sensei."

* * *

The Headmaster clears his throat in preparation of dropping a bomb. "I would like to relocate the class trip." Now that the bomb has dropped let the panic commence.

"What?! Is there something wrong with those places?" Negi asks.

The Headmaster leans back. "It's just that we've been seeing a lot of resistance from those areas by rogue mages. May I suggest Hawaii? I also hear that Willamette, Colorado in the United States is an up and coming tourist destination. They even have a shopping mall."

"But I was so set on Kyoto! Who would possibly resist that?" Negi is on the verge of tears as his plans are quickly collapsing around him like a house of cards in a gentle breeze.

Konoemon strokes his beard I thought. "Not someone… a group. The Kansai Magic Association."

"Eh? The Kansai Magic Association?"

"As you may know, I am the head," explains the elderly man, "of the Kanto Magic Association. It just so happens to be that our two groups and aren't exactly seeing eye to eye these days. And they won't like it if one of our mages crosses over into their territory, even if it is for a fieldtrip."

Negi points to himself and asks, "So, I am the reason for altering the fieldtrip?"

"Do not jump so hastily to conclusions," advises the dean. "They are the only reason I wish to relocate. To tell you the truth, I am looking to end this strife with them. If you wish to continue on the trip, I will be tasking you with delivering this letter to the Director of the Kansai Association, during which, you will do nothing else. You may also encounter forces that prefer the strife between the two sides. This may prove to be quite the difficult task. Are you up to it?"

"Of course!" Negi sees the opportunity and jumps on it. "I will do anything necessary to keep the field trip on as planned."

Konoemon hands him the letter and he gladly accepts. "You look… joyous. Has something happened recently?"

Negi panics. "No! No, no. Of course not. I am just happy to be given the chance to visit these places."

"Righty-o. One last thing, Konoka was born there and the house should still stand. You've been keeping a wrap on your magic, right?"

"I do believe so, yes."

"Good. Her parents wish her to remain unknowing of magic and those kinds of things." He goes on further to say, "I feel it's a shame, but nonetheless, we must respect their wishes. With that out of the way, I don't see why we can't keep the field trip on as scheduled."

"Fantastic!" Negi exclaims.

* * *

Class ends and finds Reina sitting at the back of class with her head face down on the table. She is muttering _The Litany Against Fear_ to herself again. Chisame skipped out before that so as not to deal with the new white haired freak. A few students are still around, preparing to leave, which is making Reina as nervous as before. Sakurako Shiina, Madoka Kugimiya, and Misa Kakizaki, or more simply known as "The Cheerleaders," are still in class and see Reina sitting in the back, muttering to herself. Something about fear. Some of the other students are planning a welcoming party for her, so it has also fallen to them to get her off the grounds for now.

"Do you think she knows where her room is?" asks Madoka.

Sakurako pipes up. "What about other things? Like places to eat and have fun?"

"She's obviously a very shy person. She couldn't possibly have any friends on campus," Misa observes, "And I highly doubt she has any clue to where things are located, so this will be a good thing before the party."

The three concur and go over to the girl with her face down. "Welcome, Reina Whitehall, to Mahora Academy!" all three cheer in unison.

Reina cowers slightly more than usual at the sudden outburst. She'd love to run off right now but they are in the way of a bolt to the door. If she wasn't so scared, she could bulldoze them over. But by that same token, if she wasn't afraid of them there'd be no need to bulldoze them. Begrudgingly, the girl realizes she's argued herself into a corner. The word "crap" falls from her mouth quietly.

"Come on now," Kakizaki says supportively. "No need to be shy around us. We're going to show you around Mahora and then take you to your room. Sound good?"

Reina doesn't like that idea one bit. "I'd really rather-"

She is cut off by Sakurako. "Nonsense. Come on." Madoka and her grab Reina's hands and start dragging her along for a tour of Mahora.

* * *

A lot of the class has shown up for preparations. Chisame, Evangeline, Chao, Chachamaru, Asuna, Konoka, and Negi are absent. Chisame, Chachamaru, Chao, and Evangeline are a given, but where are the other three? And Satomi being here is a big surprise. This is a thought that crosses Ayaka's mind about every eight to ten seconds while she is helping. Konoka is more trustworthy than Asuna by far. That fact is a given. The party should shape up to be a good one, providing nothing catastrophic happens. Things really do go much better without monkey girl here to muck things up.

"Eh, good of her to leave," Ayaka thinks to herself. "Too bad Negi-sensei went with her."

Over elsewhere in the room, preparing streamers are Fuka and Fumika. The older sibling is atop the ladder with a tack and the paper ribbon. They are talking while they work. "Did you notice?" asks Fuka of her ladder holding sister.

Way to be vague. Fumika asks, "Notice what?"

"Reina's hair." Fuka gets the tack to stay in place.

"Yeah. What about it?"

"It kinda looks like a 'Topi' from _Ice Climbers_."

"What?" This slaps the younger one as being both a surprise and a highly odd thing to notice. And really, a Topi?

Fuka runs her hands by her head while saying, "It's one of those small white things with beaks. Her hair looks pretty similar."

"Saves on shampoo I guess," Fumika suggests.

* * *

The Cheerleaders and their new friend and hostage make their way through a group of people heading to one of Mahora's many hotspots, the Starbooks coffee shop. The only place to go for overpriced coffee. They explain what some of the choices are and what to avoid. Reina explains that even Kaminari has one and that she's frequented it a number of times.

"Wow, they really are everywhere, aren't they?" Misa observes.

The group, including Reina, agrees.

"Have you lived there your whole life?" Madoka asks.

With nervous hesitation, she replies, "Up until now, yes. So if you could let me…"

"Not a chance. You need to get out more," The orange haired one of the trio states. "On to the next!"

Dragging the poor white haired girl around different places of Mahora, they give her a brief tour. Showing her various places to eat and buy trendy clothes and new music. Like a person in the woods without a map, most of this is lost on the mech pilot.

Running would be a fun thing to do. How she would love some fun right now, but they have her trapped on all sides. "Listen, I really don't understand most of that… Most of that stuff would be uncomfortable when I am working on my mechs and I'd hate to stain it."

Asks Madoka, "You build them too?"

"No… I can't do that. But I enjoy running regular maintenance on them. They are my bodies after all and I like to be hands on when it comes to fixing them." Talking about mechs keeps her mind off of her fear. In fact, she's looking slightly less depressed.

"Is there any way we could see one?" asks the three cheerleaders.

"Unfortunately, no," Reina answers. "They are all the way back home. It'd take some time to get here, 15 minutes or so, plus it's kind of crowded. It's just a bad idea."

"Fine," says Sakurako gleefully, "you can show us later… but you owe us rides."

Reina sputters for a bit before getting dragged off again. "Where are we going now?"

"We're going to go find something a little more girly for you to wear." Misa explains, "You got this boy thing going on when your figure just doesn't speak that language."

"Can I die now?" floats through Reina's mind as well as, "Did she just comment on my body? Geh..."

A trendy boutique provides little solace for her as they arrive to find something more feminine to wear. It was bad enough she was wearing this outfit with the mini-skirt, but now she was likely going to end up in something even worse.

"No now! This is the kind of thing you need," she thinks to herself. "Being around them will get you past this silly fear. Calm down." Death still seems like a viable, scratch that, very effective option.

* * *

Swinging it quickly, Chisame opens the door to her room. She puts her ever present laptop on the table. By her gauge, this is one of the worst days on record. She loses her privacy which will cut into her cosplay time which will, in time, hurt her site traffic. To make things worse, she catches sight of the interloper's bags. This is quickly going past awful and on the fast track to an utter nightmare.

The freak will be out for a while so she has time to get ahead with some photos. With a little effort she lifts, or rather tries, to lift her new roommate's suitcase. Being heavier than she expects, it barely moves. Adjusting her effort, Chisame picks it up and moves it to the bed Reina will be sleeping on, then goes back and gets her backpack.

Half an hour later, the room is set up for photos.

Perhaps a bunny nurse today… yes, that sounds about right.

* * *

With streamers and everything, the welcoming party for the new student is set up. Ayaka gives Sakurako a call. Quietly whispering to the others while Reina is forcibly trying something on, Sakurako relays this information. They all agree to head back once she is finished. When they leave, the Topi haired girl has some new clothes she likely won't wear, which is always a bonus. They hastily make their way back to the party without it being too obvious they were headed back for a reason.

"Why are we back at the classroom?" asks Reina. "I thought we were going to my room?"

Misa lies, "To get you used to walking from here to your room."

Misa opens the door and Madoka, with her hands on Reina's shoulders, pushes her in. The mech pilot squints her emerald eyes at seeing the tacky color scheme.

Suddenly, Reina tenses up again. Almost every girl from her class is in the room cheering. "What is this about?"

"It's a welcoming party for our newest classmate, of course," says Konoka. Negi, Asuna, and her arrived late to decorate but not for the party itself.

"O-o-okay… I see what's going on here," stutters Reina. "I think I should go find my room now."

As she turns around, Misa and Madoka grab her upper arms, preventing escape. They show her over to a chair and make her sit. This will end badly, she just knows it.

About an hour into it, the party begins to wind down, mostly because the girl whose party this belong to happens to be a nervous shivering wreck. Several attempts are made to rouse her from the funk she's in, but all have failed. Negi is the latest to try.

"Is there anything I can do?" he asks quietly.

"Just stand beside me, please. I really don't want this to end up a lousy party because I'm scared," she answers as she stands up. She's holding her phone and thinking of the words her father told her.

"Finally ready to join the party?" asks Haruna. The mangaka has a glass of punch for her new class mate. She grabs Reina's phone, accidentally pressing the button next to the camera lens, and comments, "No time for that. You need to go have some fun." The artist puts the phone in her pocket.

"Uh, but… did you press…" the mech pilot is quickly hushed by the shorter artist and sent out into the party abruptly

Reina is passed back to Negi. "I wouldn't worry about your phone. I'm sure she won't do anything with it. Nothing excessively bad at least."

She shakes her head. "It's not that. I think she may have pressed a button on it."

"And?"

"It's a very important button. My father had it modified so I can summon a mech to where I am," she explains. "I need to get it back so I can confirm that it has been pressed."

"Wow. I am amazed they could do that." Negi is astounded.

"The fact that it's possible isn't important right now. The fact that it just tends to land near where I am is. It may or may not crush the building. It's an entirely new feature we've never really tested so I am not sure what will happen."

"Crushed?" It takes a moment to hit when, "We've got to find that phone!"

"I estimate we've got about 15 minutes… tops. The Ivory Knight is kind of fast. We've calculated its tops speed at 490 miles per hour without the big boosters kicked in." (Roughly 788 kilometers per hour.)

"Then we really don't have much time then. We need that phone!" Negi turns to look around. "I don't see Haruna anywhere. Yue should know where she went. Come on."

The two of them weave through the group of people and approach Yue. She has a cup of punch as well, but her punch is green, which is a good sign that it tastes nothing like the original, or would be that good tasting for that matter.

"Yue-san, have you seen Haruna?" Negi asks with a hint of panic in his voice.

"Yeah, she went to the restroom a little bit ago, why?"

Speaking hurriedly, Negi says, "Likely nothing." Reina and Negi rush out into the hallway. "They're down this way."

When they get there Reina stand near the door like she's preparing for a shootout, Negi simply stand near the door.

"Okay Negi," the tall girl says, "now go in there and get my phone."

"Wha?! I can't go in there because this is a women's restroom!"

Reina sighs. "I- I suppose I can do it… Still, it's kinda gross that she took my phone in there with her. Though I figured at your age you'd be more than willing to go walking right in… Maybe a bit young yet."

"The phone?" reminds Negi.

Reina sighs. "Right, gonna save everyone from getting crushed." She steps in and asks, "Haruna-san? Hello?"

"I'm here," comes a voice from one of the stalls, "Who is this?"

"I am the girl whose phone you grabbed." Hey, it is easy to talk to girls when they are behind something and not out where they can scare you. "While it's mildly strange that you took it and came into the restroom with it, I kinda need it back." Reina is leaning down to see if she can see feet. She walks over to where Haruna must be.

While Reina is looking, Haruna replies, "I left it with Yue. Why would I bring it with me? It's not like I'd take any dirty pictures or anything." This made Reina turn beet red. "I left it with her in case it rang or something."

"Okay, thanks." And with that, Reina bolts out the door.

"Did you get it?" Negi asks.

Reina shook her head. "No. I found out she's a pervert though."

* * *

Back in the class room, Yue leaves the phone with Nodoka as she is out of the stuff she put into her punch and she needs to get some more. The student and teacher combo platter return to the party room and Negi begins looking for blue haired librarian.

"She's gone too?! We're going to run out of time at this rate!" Negi panics.

Thinking hard, there isn't much of an option Reina can see. "We either need to find her or wait. And waiting may end up with us getting crushed."

With a snap of his fingers Negi declares, "Nodoka!"

Hearing this, Reina looks confused. "Nodoka?"

Negi drags Reina along to where the shy librarian is. "Nodoka-san, have you seen Yue?" The mech pilot stands back and faces away while her teacher speaks.

Nodoka blushes a hint of crimson at the sight of her favorite little teacher. Meekly, she says, "Yes, she went to go get some more stuff for her drinks."

"Come on, Reina-san! Maybe we can catch up!" Negi exclaims. Once again, they head out the door.

Guessing correctly, Negi is right when he said they could catch up. It doesn't take long for the teacher and panic girl to find Yue walking to the door that leads outside. Their footsteps attract the attention of the bookish girl. She reacts with an ever so slight startle at the two of them running to her.

"Negi-sensei and… Reina-san, what's up?" she asks.

Cutting right to the chase, Negi asks, "Do you have Reina-san's phone?"

Yue shakes her head. "No. I left it with Nodoka."

"Gaaaah…" Reina responds.

Negi turns back and starts running again.

Before heading off once again, Reina, filled with more concern for people's safety than her fear, tells Yue, "Get out of here. Now! Don't ask questions. Just wait outside."

Yue looks perturbed. "Who are you to give orders?"

"It could only be a matter of minutes until you'll," explains the taller, white haired girl, "all find out what one of my mechs looks like because it'll land here… in this building. Now move! Please!"

"How could you do something so irresponsible?" Yue asks.

Admonishingly, Reina tells her, "Ask Haruna, I think her name was."

* * *

Shortly after Negi and Reina dart from the classroom, Nodoka is out of punch and cookies. She sets the phone Yue handed her earlier down on a desk and goes to get some more. It doesn't take long for the Narutaki twins to come along.

"Hey Fumika," says the elder sibling.

"What?"

"Whose phone do you think this is?"

"Nodoka put it there. Let's leave it alone."

"What's one harmless prank? It is a party, right?" Fuka purloins the phone, relocating it to her pocket. She giggles and runs away.

"Fuka!" Fumika protests and gives chase.

Once again, the red haired boy and white haired girl make a typical entrance into the room. Turning to the teacher, the girl asks, "Is it always like this around here?"

"No…" Negi admits, "There are times when it's worse."

Reina smiles at him, "Oh, I'm going to love it here."

They swiftly move over to Nodoka, not stopping for a second.

"Nodoka, please tell me you have Reina-san's phone," Negi pleads.

"Yes I do. I left it over there," she says and points to where she had been sitting. Quickly noticing a lack of the phone, she adds, "Well, it was there."

Reina groans in frustration again. She jumps up on top of the nearest table to make an announcement… but quickly finds herself shaking in fear at the number of female eyes whose gazes have landed upon her, augmented even more by Haruna's return. "This was," she mutters, "a very bad idea." Her breath increases and heart rate speeds up. Would she ever love to cower right here and now.

Negi hops up there with her. "Listen up! Has anyone seen her phone? It's kind of important."

Fuka and Fumika are too busy arguing with each other to hear his question. Muttering amongst each other, the class comes to no solution. Certainly none of them would resort to, or even consider, petty theft. Negi looks disappointed until it comes to mind.

"Fuka-san and Fumika-san! Stop arguing!" The twins stop their fight and look apologetic. They didn't want Negi mad at them. "Do you have any idea where her phone might be," he asks while gesturing towards the nervous Reina, "it's highly important."

The two of them whisper to each other. This goes on far longer than it should, until they come to a decision, turn around and hold up her phone. "Is it this one?"

"T- t- that's it," Reina says weakly when she sees it.

They toss it up to Negi and he, in turn, hands it to Reina. Flipping it open with a click, she gets the bad news. Haruna did bump the button and it is on its way. Would it land on top of the building? Who can say… wait! It's made to go to the phone's current location. Reina has an idea.

"Get everyone outside," she tells Negi.

He nods and declares, "Okay everyone, we need to get outside quickly." A small clamor came from the group, protests from the biggest partiers. "It could very well be a matter of life and death."

A very confused group of girls start making their way to the door and down the hallway, chattering amongst themselves. Mostly about what was going on. Evangeline and Chachamaru stay behind with Negi and the girl who is now climbing down off the table. The teacher follows suit immediately afterwards.

She sees those two still there. "Why are you still in the room? You could end up dead?"

Eva laughs briefly then replies. "Dying isn't one of my main concerns."

"Eva-san," Negi pleads, "don't."

The petite vampire smirks and starts walking out, making the comment, "Keeping with the charade still."

"What is with her and the robot?" Reina asks.

To which the boy replies, "It's probably best if you didn't know."

* * *

They head out the door and join up with the rest of the class. After a bit, and some clogging at the door, they finally get outside. The students pool together a short distance from the building. The day is slowly winding down into evening and there is a ridge of clouds to the south. A peaceful exterior for a day that seems to be winding down into chaos.

Yue walks up to Nodoka and Haruna. "It seems like we're all going to get to see what her mech looks like."

"Really?" Haruna asks. "I wonder if she'll let me draw it for a manga idea I had."

Yue gives her a look that says it's all her fault.

It's stunningly quiet out for being such a large place. Not even the sounds of birds can be heard, even the ones from this morning have gone silent. The silence is slowly broken by the sound of jet engines, or what could be mistaken for jet engines.

"Keep moving! Get away from the building!" Negi orders.

Reina's phone begins to ring. Hurriedly, she opens it up and it has a message. "Press Enter for final landing coordinates," it instructs her. Without thinking about it she runs out farther from the building. Everyone is quite confused as to what the hell is going on. When she reaches a fair distance away from every one, she presses enter. With bated breath, everyone waits. Increasing over the horizon, the whining sound pitches up as a jet-like vehicle rushes overhead, something obviously dropping from it.

Within seconds, a massive white object lands near Reina, flaring up its jets to prevent any damage to the pavement it lands on. Even with all that, it still lands in a cacophony of noise. Most of the students marvel at the machine as it stands up from a kneeling position on its own. The hatch Negi went through opens up and a winch with a foot pad, like a rung from a ladder, drops down, ready to lift its pilot up and in. Some of the class lets loose with "oohs" and "ahs", some are slightly less impressed, Satomi and Chao nod at each other and star walking to the new girl and her machine.

Reina looks up at it, the late afternoon early evening sunshine shining off of it. A marvel of modern technology in breathtaking beauty. Her phone rings again to her surprise. The ID says that it's her father. Pressing "Send" she puts it to her ear.

"Hello, dad," she greets apprehensively.

"What happened?" he asks. "I was just informed of the Ivory Knight launching. Did you need it for some purpose?"

Answering sheepishly, she says, "Well, it was kind of an accident. The class here decided to throw a welcoming party and one of them pressed the button when she grabbed my phone." Chao and Satomi stand back behind their new classmate.

"Ah, an accident. That's fine. You can return it when you get time or we can come get it if they need it out of the way right away."

"Okay. I'm sorry dad."

"It's okay, really. Accidents happen. No harm, no foul, right?"

"I guess."

"Well, I'll let you get back to your party. See you soon."

"Bye," Reina says and then presses the "End" button.

Misa, Sakurako, and Madoka surround the girl wanting to know about those rides she owed them. Reina weaves through them and over to the winch. She presses a button on the cable and it slowly lifts her up. "Maybe in a moment!" she shouts down to them, if only to appease them. She didn't want to leave the thing sitting in the way of a busy thoroughfare like this.

"So she's really the girl you were talking about." Chao says to Satomi.

Satomi nods. "Yes. Just like I said."

The both turn to each other and smile.

Reina sits down and connects her mind into the machine. Within seconds, she is the Ivory Knight, having left her body sitting in the seat like she has so many times before.

* * *

"Hisao sir!"says one of the technicians in a brightly light room.

The room is a white color and there are several monitors on the walls. A green stripe runs around the room at a fair height. Also in green, near the door, "2-4C-N" is painted. In one of the corners there are pipes the run down from the ceiling and through the floor. A stain on the wall near one of the pipes confirms it has a leak. There's a good chance it is on the scheduled maintenance list.

The black haired boy sighs, "What is it now?"

"We have confirmation of the Ivory Knight landing at Mahora Academy."

This news makes Hisao look at the dossier in front of him, several pictures of a large tree are in it, as well as various buildings. He glances through and starts laughing. "It seems we keep getting thrown together, sister."

* * *

Yes, yes, yes. Keep on downloading, keep compiling, sending, emailing, watching. More data! More, more, more! I am quite hungry and the more you use, the more I can feed. And that robot will be quite the prize too. I hope I can get my hands on that… there'd be nothing that stands in my way with it under my control. It's a very good thing I didn't interrupt that signal.

Oh, but what's this? The sweet girl can become machine? Perhaps this will be much easier than I thought…

**Negima: Femella Intra Machina Chapter 03: End**

**The End of the Chapter Stuff:** So Reina's secret is revealed to the young mage. I know that a girl who is afraid of girls may seem farfetched, but I asked two girls I trust about the idea, and they both said it was plausible. So either they were lying, which isn't likely, or they were trying to make me look like an idiot. Which is also something I don't believe is something they would do.

And Negi about spilled his secret when he mentioned dragons. How long can he keep it hidden from the new student? Who knows? I do, but I am not spilling it.

Anyway, this chapter was fueled by the "No More Heroes Original Sound Tracks." And in particular, the songs "Stop Hanging DJs," "Vioectrolysis," and "Pleather for Breakfast." (Destroyman's, Harvey Moiseiwitsch Volodarskii's, and Bad Girl's theme songs respectively.)

Once again, I hope you'll be along with this ride till the end. And I hope to have the next chapter out soon.

**Thanks for Reading!**


	4. Fly Routine

**Disclaimer:** I only own my own OCs, Reina Whitehall, Hisao, Corentin Catherine-Verliane, and the lady in charge of Schwarzerschutz. Everyone else is owned by Ken Akumatsu.

**Authors Notes:** Don't expect an update anytime soon. I will be moving soon and I am also working on another fic that I am storing chapters for. No it isn't Twins Testing Trouble, which may as well be dead. The name of this chapter title came from the song "Fly Routine" by Hostile Groove.

**Negima: Femella Intra Machina**

**By Dark Dragon Dave**

**Chapter 04: Fly Routine**

The night falls upon Reina's first day at Mahora Academy. In the quickly fading beams of twilight, the Ivory Knight stands inactive near the class building. Several birds have taken to perching on it temporarily. The students are quite enamored with the girl and her robot now. Something she desperately wanted to avoid… too late now. Maybe she'll get lucky and this brief stint with minor celebrity will fade quickly. Because of her current predicament, she is able to convince her new teacher to show her to her room.

She feels bad, since she thinks she's really just using him. Thankfully, her sensei doesn't seem to mind much. They walk to the room she now shares with Chisame. This is one of the points she's dreading. Sleeping in the same room as a girl. Reina shudders at the thought.

"I'm sorry for all the trouble I'm causing… and it's not even my first day."

Negi smiles at her, "That's fine, don't worry about it. Things will settle down soon."

"If you say so. So what is, Chisame was it? What is she like?" Reina asks the diminutive teacher.

The small boy ponders this over for a moment before answering, "Honestly, not that many words have passed between us. She seems like the quiet type. So the likelihood of her bombarding you with questions is slim. Tell you what; I'll come in with you to make things go a little more smoothly."

The girl nods appreciatively. "Thanks."

They enter the room to find Chisame packing stuff away in a closet. Quickly souring, the look on her face changes from nervous to angry. "Oh… you're here already." After clicking closed, a combination lock settles into place on the door.

Once again, the poor white haired girl's nerves begin to fray. "I'm sorry," she says weakly. And she was doing so well when the Ivory Knight's landing was impending.

Chisame gets a cranky looking scowl on her face which makes Reina feel even worse. "Why are you sorry?" she asks, a slight hint of disgust in her voice.

"Well, you were in a room all by yourself… and then… I came in and ruined that." Reina looks away as her voice becomes quieter as she speaks.

The computer girl sighs and informs her, "Listen, your bed is on top and you can use that dresser over there, next to your bags." With an emphasized point to the closet which incidentally has a lock on it, Chisame adds, "Do not open that closet. That is mine and mine alone." She pushes her glasses up on her face, causing the light to glint off of them in a threatening manner. "Consider it part of my agreement to let you live here, got it?"

Reina nods at her meekly. She can swear the temperature in the room dropped by a fair amount.

"Listen, I am busy right now, so why not take a bath or something," Chisame says in a tone that rang clear to Reina. _Go away and let me enjoy these last few moments of being alone._ "The boy there can show you where they are. You remembered to bring some towels, right?"

Reina confirms that she did, in fact, remember towels.

"Good, grab a couple, your washing stuff, a change of clothes, and have the kid show you where the bath is because he knows well where they are." Chisame huffs away from them and sits back down in front of her computer.

* * *

The door to the bath looms like, well a door. For Reina it means a huge leap she is not quite ready for but is a necessary evil. She could always hop into the Ivory Knight and go home and do this. She can hear other people coming. "So is this like a co-ed bath or…"

"No," Negi tells her. "It's girls only, even though I've had the chance to use it. Not by choice mind you." His face becomes red at these thoughts.

Reina smiles knowingly, shortly before a group of other girls, Kazumi Asakura among them, turns and walks down the hallway leading to the baths. Well, she may have to barge her way through, but… Oh, let's face it there's no way she is going to get closer to the group now approaching her. There was only one option. She is going to have to take Negi in with her and wait it out.

She grabs his hand and the first thing she feels is resistance. "I can't go in there!" exclaims the boy teacher.

He is right and she knows this. "I- I- I can't…"

"You can," Negi says with a smile. "You're a girl just like them. So there isn't much different between you and them."

"I know… It's just that—"

Someone of the group decides to interrupt her. "Hey look, Reina's trying to take a bath with Negi!" It was a pink-haired girl with ribbons in her hair. The group quickly surrounds them and snags Reina.

As they pull her unwillingly into the bath, Negi gives her a hesitant smile, a real "Sorry, but this is for your own good" look. The doors close and Negi leaves before they realize they could have taken him in with them.

* * *

Hell is generally considered to be a fiery pit of eternal torment and damnation, where screams fill the air and demons spend the day nipping at you while you do menial tasks, similar to the Department of Motor Vehicles. Very rarely is it a place described as having warm water and naked girls, unless you happen to be Reina Whitehall. She is trying her best to keep the thoughts at bay.

In her various items are two things she's used for a very long time. These aren't the originals, but they've been the same nonetheless for as long as she can remember. Two small rubber plugs that she uses while bathing or showering. They, the plugs, sort of resemble ear plugs to a degree. She takes one in each hand and places them in the connections behind her ears.

Most of the other girls have already gotten in the bath but there are a few who have elected to lollygag, seeing no need to rush into it. The shy mech pilot is one of them. If she wasn't so certain someone would probably stop her if she tried to leave, she would.

"Doesn't that hurt?" asks this one girl. She was in class earlier, but she seemed too small for that grade. She looks just like the other girl next to her so they must be twins… or clones. Fortunately, they have different hairstyles. The one who spoke has ponytails, the other one has odango. Reina tries to slide away, but the odango girl moves over to the other side of the taller mech pilot. "My name is Fuka Narutaki."

"Eh… not really. A- And nice to meet you."

"And I'm her twin, Fumika."

Reina starts backing away from the two. As she's stepping away, the taller girl thinks of the scene in the "The Shining." Only she's backing away and the twins are still there. Thinking of that just makes things even worse. Damn Stephen King and all his horror. All they need now is the girl with the psychic powers, the rabid dog, and Randall Flagg and they'd have themselves a party.

Unknowingly, Reina is working her way to the edge of the bath. "I could tell," she tells them. "It's kind of obvious." Her smile masks a need to run.

"Say, is there any reason you are backing away from us?" Fumika asks.

Lying, Reina responds, "No, it's just that… you know… busy and all."

Fuka asks, "Busy… in a bath?"

Damn. They got her. "Well, you know when you've got to clean up real quick. I still have some unpacking to do and all. I did just move here."

"By the way, Reina-san, you may want to watch out for—"

It is too late. She doesn't see the edge and falls right into the water. Her towel, which just her being in it was a miracle in and of itself, flutters about lazily before rumpling to the floor, despite looking like it is going to go into the water. Several other students issued complaints about being splashed.

Today is shaping up to be a very bad day indeed.

Reina sits alone, out of embarrassment, over in a farther end of the bath after apologizing profusely to everyone and scrubbing properly.

Kazumi chooses this time to get any and all data she can on the new student. A lone wolf is easily captured with the right bait. Quietly, she walks up to the victim… er, new student with note pad and tape measure in hand. Perhaps she can get her to spill something on the mech fight too.

"Hello," Kazumi introduces herself. Reina reacts like someone had poked her with a cattle prod. "Whoa! I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you. My name is Kazumi Asakura, and I keep an extensive record on our class of 3–A. And seeing as you are a new class member, I'd like to get a few things on you, if I may."

That's the last thing the now quivering Reina wants but at the back of her mind she can hear Negi and her father telling her this is for the best. With her nerves telling her to shrink away and run, she says, "O- Okay fine," with a wavering voice. "Um… wha," she gulps, "what's with the t- t- tape measure?"

"Oh that? Well when it comes to the class, I also keep detailed information on their measurements."

"Their what?!"

Kazumi looks at her like doing this is completely normal. "Hey, this is important information to know."

Reina backs away a little. "Listen, I think I've been in here long enough… so… I got to go."

As the white haired girl is about to get out of the water, Kazumi says, "I saw your mech fight… the one with the black mech."

Reina stops and turns around. "You saw that? How on earth…"

Kazumi smiles. "There are a lot of things on the internet. Mind if I ask you some questions about that as well? I am also with the Journalism Club and I smell an interesting story here. As prevalent as they are in popular culture, mech fights don't happen all that often. I'd like to get the view of one who experienced it directly. So if you help me, I might be able to put a positive spin on the fight. If not… perhaps you are bullying around another presenter. And information passed around on the net tends to spread quickly. And I'd seem a lot more credible if I had a close up picture of you. Whadya say?"

Not wanting to hurt her father's company and, more importantly, let her father down, she agrees. "F- Fine…" She slinked back down in the water and tried to focus on something else. This whole measurement business doesn't sound the least bit thrilling.

"Okay, first off, what is your blood type?" Kazumi asks. "I usually find this out in the original introduction as a lot of new students add it to their intro. You, however, passed out."

"Umm… To tell you the truth, I find… blood type compatibility to be a c- c- complete waste of time."

"…Really?" Kazumi takes notes on this. "Why's that?"

Reina explains, "It's not really based on any kind of science or anything. It's really j- just a superstition and I grew up in the scientific community. But if you must know, I am a Type O. S- So right there the whole thing is shot full of holes."

"Huh…" the red haired girl says as she makes a note of this. "So… what are some of your likes? I would assume robotics, right?"

"Well that's o- one of them. I also enjoy reading books," replies the timid girl.

"Uh-huh… Now, what are some of your dislikes?"

Reina is still feeling slightly uncomfortable as she speaks. "Well, I suppose… someone who would use mechs to force their will on others. I prefer to see them as means for space travel and possibly defense, but using them to bring pain and suffering is wrong."

Knowing a good lead when she sees one, the reporter latches on to this last bit. "Space travel, you say? Have you been to space?" Shaking her head in response, the mech pilot tells her no. "Okay…" Damn, that angle fell. "Now, the part of the game that everyone enjoys… getting those measurements."

At hearing this, Reina hopes maybe there will be some kind of weird electrical accident that strikes her dead. When no such misfortune happens and with the thought of bad press getting out about Kaminari, she accepts what must be done. Reluctantly, she stands up.

"You'll have to move over here," instructs the tape measure wielding girl. "The light's better over here."

Reina swallows her throat again as it felt like it was trying to escape. Her breath quickens as she approaches, dreading the instrument in the other girl's hands.

"Turn around and lift your arms a bit."

Once again, the timid girl does as she is told. The thoughts of her father kept her from running and hiding. She can hear the noise of the tape. Then it happens. The red head wraps her arms around Reina and brings the tape along with her, once around her rib cage, under her breasts. _You're a girl just like them. So there isn't much different between you and them._ Got to keep that in mind… but they seem to be awfully touchy. She is distracted enough that it comes as a complete shock when the tape goes around her breasts.

"Ah!" she shrieks.

Kazumi gets the numbers memorized before she asks, "What's the matter? Never had your bra size measured?" Now that the measuring tape is done she writes down the numbers and gets to figuring.

Well, in all honesty Reina has been shopping for them, but she did it herself and with better than expected results. "It's n- n- not that. I was thinking is all. And I usually go by myself."

"Certainly you went with your mother at least once."

Reina closes her eyes in a slight bite of sadness. "No… I don't have a mother. I am adopted."

"Oh! Oh jeez… I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be so inconsiderate." Kazumi honestly feels bad about bringing it up.

"It's okay. S- S- So what are you g- going to do with those numbers?"

A smile crosses the reporters face. "I'm going to rank you."

"Rank me for what?" the timid girl asks.

"I know every girl in order ranked on," says Kazumi, "bust size, so these are important numbers."

"Oookay," this bit of information is a bit too much for the scared new girl. She starts leaving when Kazumi grabs her by the shoulder. Her balance changes because of this and she twists around to adjust for it. Overdoing it, she ends up turning right around and falling backwards.

The water makes a gurgling sloshing noise past her ears as she is able to change this in to a backwards swimming motion. Well, actually calling it a swimming motion is being generous. Either way, it does its job of getting her farther away from Miss Touchy Weirdy. Her head is just above the water as something ends up blocking her way. Actually… two somethings that are largish and soft… A dread sense falls over her. Expecting just what you are thinking, she lifts her gaze upwards.

She can hear the possessor say, "Ooh… Oh my."

As expected, another girl is blocking her path to freedom. This one has ample… blocking abilities. "Ah!" Reina stands up quickly and begs her forgiveness. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

"Oh, it's okay. My name is Chizuru Naba, since we haven't been formally introduced. I would like to say, you should be a bit more careful," she says, her voice carrying its usual motherly tone. No anger just friendliness and understanding.

Perhaps she has been in the water to long, maybe something else… but… that phrase, that tone. "You should be a bit more careful," Reina mutters to herself. She shakes her head like she is trying to remember something. "M…"

The world gets a bit swimmy. An alarm, klaxons going off, she's heard them before. A flash of light, red, the sound of rapid gunfire… What is all this?

She comes back to reality holding her head and being held by the same girl she had bumped into.

"Good news," Kazumi tells her as the white haired girl opens her eyes, "You are tied for sixth."

Reina decides that with her head hurting, her fear, and all the stuff going on that discretion is the better part of valor. "Okay… I- I- I am getting out n- now."

* * *

Now fully dried off, clothed, and wanting to put as much distance between her and the baths, Reina decides to head back to her room. She once again comes to the door that contains her new roommate. With a steeling of her courage she turns around and heads away from this door too.

The night air is cool against her freshly washed skin. She still has her dirty clothes and other stuff with her as she leaves the building behind. She removes the rubber plugs from behind her ears as she walks along, thinking about how coming here was an utter mistake. There isn't anyone really out at this time so she walks to the Ivory Knight in almost complete silence.

"Who was I kidding?" she asks herself. "I am still a scared little girl."

Reacting to her presence, the Ivory Knight opens its hatch and lowers the winch.

Sighing, she asks the Knight, "Do I really belong here?"

The Ivory Knight says nothing in response.

"Like you would give me an answer." She says as she sits down near the foot of the large scale machine. "I can't do this, you know. I am a sad, pathetic person. Afraid of my own gender… how does that happen?" She remains silent for a while, listening to the breeze and the other ambient noises.

"This place is pretty quiet at night, isn't it?"

Without warning, a voice answers, "It's not always like this."

Quickly looking where the voice came from, the sitting girl sees the Takamichi guy that greeted her this morning. He is wearing the same suit as earlier… or a similar looking suit. The smoke from his cigarette trails off in the breeze. He looks rather dashing like that. "Umm… Hello Takamichi-san."

"Hello," greets the older teacher. "Say, is there any reason you are out here by yourself… with that stuff there?"

"I… I don't think I belong here," she tells him. "I think coming here was a big mistake and a waste of everyone's time. I can't even get through a day without fainting, summoning a giant robot, and almost getting everyone killed. I'm too weak to get over my fear because every time I see a girl I want to run or pass out."

The smoking teacher chuckles at that. "Is that all? I think you're wrong, you know," he counters. Reina looks up at him. "I think it's just a bad case of first day nervousness, I also think it takes a pretty brave person to pilot something like this, especially in the fashion that you do."

The dejected pilot doesn't say anything to counter that but it is clear his words didn't seem to make a dent in her mood. "I know you must see it as totally mundane to you," Takahata continues, "but it really is something that requires a lot of bravery on your part. It's just that you've gotten used to it. So just as piloting mechs is second nature for you, so too will this become second nature. Just some time is all you need."

"You sure about that?"

"Yes I am. And if you ever need someone to talk to, I'll always listen when I can. Negi will also listen, and the Dean always makes time for the students," explains Takahata. "So there is a wealth of teachers and faculty who will listen. You needn't feel alone, okay?"

"Okay…"

"So how about one more day, huh?" He put a hand on her shoulder reassuringly. "Show us all your confidence."

Reina mutters, "Mm hmm."

"That's good. Do you want me to walk you back to your room?"

With a slight bit more confidence Reina tells him, "No. I should be fine now. Thanks for the offer though."

Takahata smiles. "There, that's better. So I'll bid you good night and let you get back to your room."

"Good night, Takahata-sensei." As Takahata walks away, Reina picks up her stuff. With her slightly wet payload in arm, she gives the school one more shot.

* * *

Chisame is sitting at her computer, checking the clock in the lower right hand corner. It is getting late and her last few moments of privacy are going to an end at any moment. She checks the flow of traffic one last time, just to confirm that all is… 1000 hits fewer than at the start of the day? What?! Is this some kind of technical error?

She presses F5 in hopes of refreshing the data… maybe it is some kind of load error. When that resolves nothing, she is at a loss.

"Maybe some kind of bug in the tracker program," she thinks. When the door to the room opens, her thoughts shift to "Damn it."

Her new roommate enters rather hesitantly, issuing an assortment of apologies. "Umm… I don't want to be a burden, but is there a place where I can put my clothes and towels?"

"Yeah, there's a hamper over there." Chisame wishes she'd stop missing the obvious. Now there are two things wrong with her life. Her website has likely been hacked and her peace has been destroyed. Life just can't get any worse, can it?

Reina quickly dumps her clothes off and then climbs up into bed. "Oh! I almost forgot!"

Sighing heavily, Chisame turns to see her new annoyance remove some black things from her pile of clothes. "What the hell are those things?"

"Ah… Um… They protect the c- connections behind my ears from w- water and things like shampoo," explains Reina as she looks at them.

"She must have a stutter or something. Her voice sounds a little off, like she's afraid of something," Chisame thinks. "I'll chalk it up to being the new girl… Wait! Why should I care? Just going to end up being a pain in my ass."

"So, I could hook you up to a computer?" she ends up asking.

Reina is not sure about that, but at least it's a subject she's halfway comfortable with. "I don't think so… Maybe if there was enough of a work around and the hard drive of the computer in question is large enough. But I don't think that a standard personal computer would have the proper architecture for my mind."

"Huh…" Truth be told, Chisame checked out on the conversation at _I don't think so_. Things for her are getting weirder. Random posts are disappearing too, it seems. The log-in records don't show anything… What is going on? As soon as her hits started dwindling, they stop falling. This is all very confusing.

Without much to do about it, Reina takes her pants off and climbs into bed. When that is done, she places the pants on the top of her blankets… she'll get to them, and her unpacking, tomorrow as she doesn't want to irritate Chisame any further. Going to sleep would be the best option. Nice, quiet, and out of the way, sleeping is.

* * *

Much farther away, a black haired boy sits in a chair on a balcony, looking at the clouds below. He had a cup of tea to drink a little earlier. He often switches between it and coffee… but really, both were inferior and simply muddied up water. Still, water gets boring after a while. Caffeine likely isn't the best thing before bed, but what the heck.

His thoughts turn to Reina and how she is not with him now, not in a romantic way mind you. It's just that… she is the only other person like him on the face of the entire planet. And not having a knowing person to talk to about your experiences can get a bit lonely. A single dragon can have a million friends but not having other dragons to talk to can lead to a hollow existence and bring low even the mightiest of creatures.

A click from behind him signifies that he is about to be disturbed. And he so enjoys his quiet evenings.

"Bonsoir, Monsieur. How are you this evening?" asks a teen in a French accent.

He has an old fashioned pilot's helmet, one of the leather ones with the goggles. His hair is long, stopping at his shoulder blades, and light brown. His eyes are a maroon color. Wearing a white shirt like Hisao, but never bothering with a tie, he prefers to let the top button remain unbuttoned. On both of his wrists he wears a black leather armband. He has also chosen grey pants and white sneakers.

Hisao doesn't mind this guy, actually considering him one of his few friends. "I'm okay, Corentin-san. I'm just enjoying the night."

If Hisao had referred to him by his full name it would have been Corentin Catherine-Verliane. He sits down at the same table and tests the tea pot. There is some available and he notices there is a second cup. Happily, he pours himself some.

"Thinking about the girl again, no?" He sips to find that the tea is quickly losing warmth.

Hisao thinks about this for a moment before answering. "Yes."

Corentin laughs a little bit. "Are you sure you do not harbor feelings for her?" Hisao closes his left eye and levels a sideway glance at him. "Okay," the French teen says jovially. "But your thoughts often wander to her. Often, I wonder, you know?"

"There's no way I see her like that. Absolutely not." Hisao's voice carries a dead serious tone. "You know why I need her with me."

"Okay. I understand. I kid, you see? I do suppose that is good news." Corentin says with a smile. "Listen, I did come with a specific reason. The higher one, the lady, she wants us for a night simulation."

This strikes Hisao as being off. "Really?" Generally they let them get their rest.

"Yes, this is true. I heard that a weird girl showed up and offered a contract for us, and apparently she is still here."

"So we're being paraded out like meat for the purchasing," the black haired youth sighs. "I really don't like being tied to these people, especially when they use us like this."

"Hey, we can't complain. We are not lucky, like you," explains the French boy. "You, Monsieur, gave up a family. I still, to this day, do not understand why one would do that."

"I did it for my own reasons."

Corentin changes the subject. "Ah, I apologize. It is not my business. From my perspective it is strange, you see. All I ever had was my name, and I am lucky to have that. It gives me a start, should I ever choose to go looking for my parents. Due to French naming, I can start in Brittany. And if I have a friend with me, I do believe I am not truly alone."

The black haired boy reminds his foreign friend. "When will we be needed?"

"Oh! I _have_ gotten sidetracked. We should leave now." Corentin gulps the last bits of cold tea out of his cup and shudders.

"Right."

The two of them get up and leave the comfort of the room, heading into the cold metal hallway.

* * *

Testing room number four is the room that contains the ten children that make up Mercenary Unit 12. This company, Schwarzerschutz Special Machine Design, is considered both a rival to, and far behind, Kaminari Grand Industrial when it comes to design and construction of large scale mobile armaments, sometimes referred to simply as "mechs" or "mecha." Because of this, they have to rely on something other than the minor government contracts they receive. Within the last few years they have developed a mercenary branch to the company which takes contracts for pay.

A side effect of this is a need for pilots. Their method of solving this is also a very shady practice. "Adopting" children. Most of their pilots were taken at young ages to grow up in the company. To keep from being noticed, they will take children from across the world. Japan, Australia, France, the United States, it matters not. Documents can be easily forged when one has the proper technology, and what matter would the lives a few unwanted children have?

The youths, all around 15 years of age, stands before the lady in charge like a line-up of troops. A majority of them are casually dressed. In front of them were a number of simulation pods, crafted to resemble the company's standard control scheme. However, there is one more pilot than there are pods.

"Why are there more pilots than there are pods?" asks the strange girl. She stands in the dark to prevent being seen.

The lady in charge, who is wearing a standard blue business suit and skirt, says, "Ah, that is because of our star pilot here." She walks over to Hisao. "You see, this child here can actually download his brain into a mech. A technique we have been trying to perfect. It gives him almost perfect control over his machine."

"Perfect. Let's see what he can do."

* * *

Hisao comes to the Ebony Knight and sees it has been plugged into Schwarzerschutz's simulation system. They spent quite some time after he arrived here trying to do even the simplest task with it. Programming and everything was like looking into the future for them.

After he ran away from his former life, he needed some place to get parts for the Ebony Knight. There are very few places he could go that would accept him, without returning the Ebony Knight for fear of legal action against them by Kaminari. Schwarzerschutz Special Mechanical Design is different. They kept a lot of things off the books.

So he works for them and gets room, board, and parts. That's not to say this position isn't without its perks. He gets an education here and a lot of freedoms like the other pilots. Perhaps they do good work, taking the children the world forgot and giving them something they otherwise would not have gotten.

The black haired boy quickly dismisses such thoughts as they tend to depress him. He climbs into the cool leather seat and doesn't bother strapping himself in since it won't be moving. The system here operates much like the one at Kaminari… to a degree. That degree being, it takes his mind and places it in a supercomputer. Kaminari's is a lot smoother and doesn't cause him any pain. The system here feels a lot like slowly rubbing his mind with fine sandpaper.

Hisao grunts to counter the initial sting. Once it passes he finds himself in a virtual landscape with the others. One of the mechs, a drab green one piloted by Corentin, approaches the black mech.

"Here you are." His voice carries joy with it. "So, yes, shall we be the paraded meat?"

"Whatever gets us by," replies Ebony Knight Hisao. Suddenly, on all radars, multiple targets appear in the west. "Okay, everyone, fan out, two to a group. They are headed this way; let us catch them in our net. When we are in position, activate Heat Signature Cancellation. You two," he points to two of the closer mechs, "go on ahead and when you get there, before we activate HSC, use the Local Radar Jammer to block them from guessing our locations."

The two pilots acknowledge the plan and dash on ahead of the others. As the rest finally take off, Corentin and Hisao group together and head south of the incoming enemies.

"To me, it seems like it is too easy," Corentin says.

Hisao agrees. "She wants us to show off our combat abilities, so I am inclined to agree with you. But by spreading out we prevent ourselves from getting into a battle larger than we can handle; but by the same token, if we stay close enough, we can prevent being overrun."

Corentin, farther away in his test pod, is happy to be on the field of battle with Hisao, even if it is a simulation. He is a great leader and worthy of admiration. "Good plan, Mon Lieutenant."

"We'll see. It's always been about the equipment, and since this is a simulation, we don't know what to expect."

The two mechs that left first now arrive and drop two spheres on the ground. Both of those spheres activate and begin the radar jamming they are made to do. The rest of the squad spread out to their predetermined locations. As the last to leave the starting point, Hisao and Corentin arrive at their spot last.

Then they wait.

For an unusually long time.

"Something is wrong," Corentin states.

"We've been duped into this. They are going to try to take us out one by one," observes Hisao. Over a private communications wavelength, he tells the others, "Stay alert and stick close to your team member. They are going to swarm us one-by-one."

* * *

"This hardly seems like a new strategy. It looks more like he's waiting for the enemy to make a move," says the mystery girl as she watches the battle unfold on a wall of monitors.

The lady from Schwarzerschutz counters with, "Oh, just wait."

* * *

"We cannot just wait here to be attacked, yes?" asks Corentin.

"Of course not," answers the Ebony Knight. "You and me, we're heading to where they came from."

"Oh! I shall follow your lead then," Corentin chimes.

They both boost off in the direction the enemies had come from. They arrive at their destination without having seen any trace of their enemy. Hisao comes to an abrupt stop causing Corentin to rush past him suddenly. The French boy pulls off a boosting zero turn spin while hopping.

"What is the matter?"

"We haven't seen them at all. Time to draw them out of hiding." Before his friend can say anything, all the jets along Ebony Knight Hisao's back adjust angle and he lifts effortlessly off the ground.

"What do wish me to do?"

"Pay attention… they are going to make themselves known."

Exactly like something that size shouldn't be doing, the Ebony Knight hangs in the air. He draws his rifle and begins firing in random places along the horizon. It isn't long before he is dodging bullets. In response he drops down back into the trees. In the distance, he can hear the sound of more gunfire. Apparently his teammates found the others and were now in combat.

Corentin eliminates two of the enemies before things quiet back down. He rushes off to find Hisao in the center of the forest. "Good job, Mon Lieutenant."

"It really wasn't anything." Hisao is slightly perturbed.

"You seem angry. Is something the matter?"

"Just this whole thing," Lieutenant Hisao states. "Trees? And what was up with the enemies? They fell for me showing myself. This whole thing was a waste of time when it comes to trying to show our abilities."

* * *

"Well," the mysterious girl says, "he's got you there. And with that, I do believe I have made up my mind."

With a slight grunt of frustration, the Schwarzerschutz lady presses a button and speaks into a microphone. "Okay, everyone back."

* * *

The group from the simulation stands lined up once again, unsure what was the whole point of the exercise. The mysterious woman and the Schwarzerschutz rep lady stand before the students. Hisao finally gets a good look at the mysterious woman. She's about his age with black hair and brown eyes. Hisao's not up on such things, but from her hair style, he guesses she is of Chinese descent.

"Yes," she says. "I have seen what I needed to. I would like to hire Hisao there. He is the most useful one."

Corentin speaks up out of turn. "I would like to go with him too."

"Corentin, shut up," orders the Schwarzerschutz representative.

"No… He could be useful as well. A team is more useful than a single unit. And he obviously knows how to control his mech as displayed by that turn he made. That requires considerable skill. I will hire him as well."

It looks like Corentin relaxes. "Merci, Mademoiselle."

"I will need you at Mahora academy in two weeks and you will need to stay for quite some time. I assume this is okay with you."

This strikes him as a lucky stroke so Hisao agrees, "Of course. Though, I would like to ask a question."

"And that would be?"

"Why would you need our services at Mahora anyway?"

"That," she walks up to him hand places her index finger on the tip of his nose as she smiles. It's then that Hisao notices a slight difference in their height… and how cute she is. "Is none of your business for now."

Hisao blushes at her sudden change in personality. "R- Right. As you wish."

Corentin looks at this girl out of the corner of his eye. His expression is visibly cooler towards her.

"See you again soon." She turns around and leaves quickly, her coat flapping as she walks out.

* * *

Morning comes again and Reina wakes up to the sound of an alarm clock that's not her own. Chisame also wakes up to that sound. Reina blearily flips her covers over, sits up and then stands. A split second later she is sprawled out, face down, on the floor in a t-shirt and panties.

"Oow…" complains the fallen girl.

Chisame witnesses the fall of Reina. She leans over and looks at the stupidity of her new roommate. "Smooth."

"Not used to the bunk beds…" It then dawns on her that she's alone in this room with a girl. And this girl just spoke to her. Mere moments later, she is over near her bag.

Chisame regards her with slight disdain as it's too early to start loathing. "God, you are sad," she mutters. "Listen, if you are a little uncomfortable, you can use this room. I'll get dressed in the kitchen. Sound okay to you?"

"Uuh… If that w- won't put you out…" Reina half-whimpers.

"Yeah… no problem." Chisame yawns and finally gets out of bed. So far this hasn't been all that bad. Her roommate seems like one of the out of the way types. "I can make some breakfast too, I guess. Never had a roommate to worry about."

Reina looks embarrassed. "Uh… Again, I don't want to be a burden."

"You're the daughter of the Kaminari owner, right?" the computer girl asks as she takes a fresh uniform from her closet.

"S- Sort of... Why do you a- ask?"

"You're probably used to getting waited on, aren't you?"

Reina nodded. "Yes, b- but that doesn't mean I am inc- capable of doing for myself."

"Ah… well, either way I can handle it to give you time to dress in private and when we are done eating I'll get dressed in there." With her clothes in hand, Chisame heads into the kitchen area.

This eases Reina, leaving her to get dressed for class by herself. She takes her shirt off, puts on a new bra, clean panties, clean shirt, skirt, socks, shoes and neck tie. By the time she is done, she can smell the food cooking in the kitchen area. Her mouth begins to water and her stomach grumbles. "Oh! I forgot… I didn't eat supper last night."

When it finally is done, the hungry girl is quite happy to see it, even if girls still freak her out. "Thank you v- very much."

She is about to eat when Chisame asks something. "I don't mean to be rude, but do you have a stutter?"

"Eeh… N- N- No. Why do you ask?"

"Well, I've listened to you and it seems there is a slight hitch in your speech is all, almost as if you are afraid of something."

"Oh… T- That."

"Damn!" Reina thinks. "How do I cover up my fear? If they find out I am afraid of them, it'll just make me a huge target, won't it?! Aggghhh… This is the worst thing!"

Breaking the scared girl out of her thoughts, Chisame says, "You okay? Why don't you eat? Forget I said anything."

"Huh? Oh, yeah…"

"Go ahead and put the dishes in the sink when you are done." Then Chisame adds, "I can take care of them later."

Reina starts eating and worrying about the fact there is a girl in the same room she is eating in. "I c- can take care of th- them, if you want."

While that sounds like a good trade off, Chisame also knows this means that Reina would be here later. The advantage is too much to let slip away. "No. I can do them."

"Okay. Thank you so very much for all your hospitality."

"Forget about it. When you are done, go ahead and head off."

The white haired girl nods and continues eating. Finishing shortly after, she leaves her plate and fork in the sink and quickly leaves.

* * *

Most of the class is assembled and separated into their social groups, most of which are discussing the rapidly approaching Kyoto trip. Some are discussing the latest rumors and gossip. Satomi and Chao are talking shop, with Chao yawning every now and again. Evangeline is sitting in the back, disliking it all.

Asuna, Konoka, and Negi, now with only an adhesive bandage on his head, rush up to the door like they do every morning in their tragic rut of lateness. Without a moment's hesitation, they slide the door open and bumble in to the room. Negi looks around to see that, yes, Reina is in class. Outside the room, part of the Ivory Knight can be seen, due to its exceptionally close proximity to the building.

The day travels along without much trouble. After classes end Negi approaches Reina. "Good afternoon," he greets.

"Afternoon, Negi-sensei," she returns with a smile. "Something up?"

"I was asked by Dean Konoe to ask you about joining some clubs. If there is anything you enjoy, there is likely a club for it."

"Ehh… I don't know. I like reading…"

"There are several reading related clubs, there's the Library Exploration Club—"

"Why would a library need to be explored?"

Negi thinks back to the events leading up to the exam. "Well it is an incredibly large library. There are parts of it that some people don't even know about. They have the Library Exploration Club set up to chart all the different part of the library."

"Sounds kinda Indiana Jones to me."

"You could always be a library aide."

Reina looks down. "Maybe I can take some time first? I am still having troubles getting used to the whole 'There are girls here' thing. I'd be useless in a club with nothing but a bunch of them." She looks outside at the Ivory Knight. "There aren't any clubs for people who can download, are there?" she asks jokingly.

"I'm afraid not," the teacher says in a similar manner.

Something floats into the girl's mind. "You're not busy, are you?"

"I need to go meet Konoka and Asuna downtown a little later."

"…How later?"

"About an hour, why?"

Reina smiles at him and stands up. "I'm bored… Come on."

"Where are we going?"

"Downtown…" Reina tells him. She adds after seeming to inhale, "In about an hour."

Negi is confused as to what she is on about but then he looks outside. "You're not thinking about…"

"Just come on. I think I owe you a trip where you don't get hurt."

Negi counters with, "But I should stay here."

"Nonsense. When the time arrives I'll drop you off, or… are you scared from last time? I am still very sorry about that."

"I suppose I am a bit. I felt awful that I couldn't help you. I felt powerless."

"What could you have done, Negi-sensei?"

"I still feel like I could have done something."

Reina laughs lightly. "I suppose we both just need to drop our respective hang-ups. Me and my feeling bad for injuring you, and you for feeling powerless."

"Yeah."

The white haired girl holds out her hand. "Let's start over again. Hello, I am Reina Whitehall."

Grabbing her hand and shaking it, the young teacher says with a smile, "Greetings, I am Negi Springfield."

"So… Want to come along?"

"I think I will," he replies.

"Good, let's go."

* * *

As they walk to the Ivory Knight, Kazumi Asakura sees the two of them and decides to ask a few more questions she thought of since last night. While at this point she realizes that Reina owes her nothing, she still thinks it is worth a shot to see if she'll answer them.

The winch with the foothold lowers down and Reina stands on it. Negi plants his foot down as well as they both grab a hold of the wire.

"Hey, wait!" orders the reporter.

"Reina-san, stop the winch," Negi tells Reina. She does as he asks reluctantly.

"I'm glad I caught you, I thought of some more questions I'd like to ask, if you wouldn't mind."

Reina wishes there was a fast retract switch on the controls. "But I was just about to take Negi flying."

"Ooh… that sounds kind of fun," the reporter comments. "I was going to ask you a few questions, but I wouldn't mind going flying."

"Y- You can't just invite yourself…"

Negi, in his infinite wisdom, says, "Why not let her come along? The more the merrier."

"But then I really won't be making up for my mistake earlier," Reina tells him.

"But we resolved that. Plus," Negi motions that he wants to whisper the rest, when she leans in he says, "this can only help you, right?"

"You're the teacher," Reina says.

Negi realizes what he's just suggested. "But it's your body… mech… I guess. I'm sorry for suggesting it."

"No, you're right. But I'd still like to take you alone sometime though."

"Hello?" The slightly irritated red-head says.

"J- Just a sec- cond…" Reina uses the winch to lift her and her teacher up.

Asakura scoffs at the seemingly rude treatment she's receiving. Once Negi and the pilot are inside, the winch comes back down. She looks it over curiously and then places her foot on it like the other two. She presses a button the control panel on the wire labeled "UP" in English. The winch once again jerks to life and the reporter shouts as she grabs on to the wire to keep from falling off.

She soon finds herself inside the cockpit of the Ivory Knight. The first thing she notices is that Reina is sitting in the seemingly only chair. "So how does this all work?" she asks while the hatch closes. "Won't we get tossed around?"

"Not i- if I operate gently. If I just fly ar- round without doing a- anything too showy we should be fine," Reina answers.

"Good thing I brought along my camera. I wouldn't mind getting some aerial shots from around Mahora," Kazumi says offhandedly. "So how does this work? I've heard you talk about it, now show me."

"O- Okay…" Reina says answers as she leans back into the chair and fastens the safety harness. Safety devices clasp on to her legs and around her head. Two wires slowly lower down from above.

"The last time I was in here, she was in a chair away from the mech so I had the chair to myself," the small teacher tells Kazumi.

"So your brain and body _can_ separate." Her curiosity is starting to increase.

Reina is quick to correct her as best she can. "Not l- literally removing my brain. It just takes my thoughts, rem- moves them, and places them inside the Ivory Knight. My b- body would die if it weren't for the life support systems that keep it functioning." She takes the two wires and effortlessly plugs them in. With her arms on the armrests, clasps wrap around her wrists. "All this stuff is to keep me from getting tossed loose, even though I don't intend on doing anything that would cause that."

And with that, her mind transfers over to the Ivory Knight, the insides of which light up when the transfer is complete.

"So… Did it work?" Kazumi asks.

A voice, Reina's voice, comes across speakers in the cockpit of the Ivory Knight. "And here I am."

The red-headed reporter is at a loss for words.

"Don't go overboard, okay?"

"I won't," confirms Reina. "Taking off!"

The Ivory Knight steps away from the building suddenly, scaring some of the people nearby and the birds off of it. Being extra careful, the steps she takes are small. Before she can take off, she has to get far enough away to keep from shattering windows. Reina soon steps out into the empty street. Her boosters flare up, allowing her to "skate" along the street like on an ice rink, sparks occasionally flying off the bottom of the feet.

"So when do weEEEEEE!!" Kazumi is about to ask when they were going to take off when she got that feeling one gets riding up in an elevator. Her reaction is more from knowing that they actually lifted off. "We're in the air, aren't we?!"

"Take a look for yourself," says the Ivory Knight.

The hatch opens, calling the intrepid reporter forward. She stands at the edge, looking out at the horizon. "Wow. Nice. I hate to ask, but could we go out to so I could get a nice picture of the campus?"

"Uh… Yeah." The hatch closes and a screen drops down. "Here, you can see what I can see as far as actual landscape is concerned."

"They replaced it rather quickly, didn't they," observes Negi.

Ivory Knight Reina became embarrassed at that statement. "Yes. The Kaminari technicians that look after my body here are rather quick and fairly efficient. And I can never apologize enough about that."

"Still on about that?" Negi asks. "We both forgave each other."

"I'm still a bit new to that idea. Sorry," the mech girl says. Slightly chuckling, she adds, "What's sad is it was my idea."

People around Mahora watch as a large white object flies about over their heads. Some, especially those affiliated with the robotics club, don't pay it much attention. Others tend to be freaked out that this large metal object, which has no business hanging in the air like that, is hanging in the air like that and moving about like it's a natural thing for it to be there.

They happen to glide over the forest and past a small cabin. Its blonde owner happens to be outside when the Ivory Knight passes over head, rising high enough to not cause too much of a disturbance. Evangeline regards it with her usual disdain.

"Like a kid with a toy," the diminutive vampire comments and then goes back to the book she is reading.

The trees rush under Reina as she boosts along, green streaks of verdant nature. Eventually the mech comes to an urban area, with taller buildings. Once again, teacher and student get the "excess gravity" feeling of rising up quickly.

It isn't long before Reina declares, "We are at the edge of town," as the hatch opens again.

Pulling her camera out of her pocket, Kazumi steps towards the edge again, feeling a wind rush past as she braves the danger of falling out. She levels her camera, but can't get a good enough shot standing in the hatch opening. She protests this with an obvious irritation.

"I suppose I could help, but how willing are you to get this shot?" Reina asks.

"Pretty determined, I'd say. The Aviation Club can't exactly hold a spot like this unless I talk to the helicopter guy, but he's the unfriendly sort."

The Knight brings its hand up to the hatch. "Climb out."

"Oh…" Kazumi judges the wind. With quite a bit of hesitation, Kazumi steps out onto the large metal hand, its fingers rising up enough to prevent her from falling off. In this delicate position she can see all of Mahora, its size and scale, all within her sight. She brings her camera up and snaps a couple of quick photos. Satisfied, she walks back in to the Ivory Knight, the hatch closing behind her. "That was amazing. It was so high up!"

"Negi, want to check for yourself?" Reina asks. "It's not every day you get to be so high up."

Having been so on several occasions Negi turns her offer down. Being a mage sometimes ruins the little things in life. Reina offers that he doesn't know what he is missing.

"You have a fear of heights, don't you?" Reina asks.

Negi is a little timid about the truth, beings as he can't tell her. Ever. "It's not that. It's just that…"

"Oh! Okay. I get you."Reina thinks he is speaking as though his fear of heights is the same thing as her fear of girls, which is to say it is a secret that he doesn't want out.

"So now what?" Kazumi asks.

"Is there somewhere you need to go?" Reina asks.

"Actually, I was going to ask you a few questions… Now I'd like to ask you what it's like, being able to do this."

"The short answer is 'it is like being a giant toy.' Sort of. The long answer is something else."

"I'd like to be able and sit down and ask you some questions," the paparazzo says.

Negi chimes in. "That's a great idea. You should do it."

Reina chuckles nervously, "Maybe later."

"Oh crap!" Kazumi suddenly exclaims.

"What's the matter?" Negi asks.

The tardy girl explains her situation. "I'm late for a club meeting. It starts in a couple of minutes!"

"I can get you there now, and it gives me a reason to go fast. Hang on," Reina advises. She opens up a panel in her back, revealing a larger engine than the ones keeping her aloft. "And by that, I mean stand up and place your backs to the rear wall."

The young teacher and student do exactly as told. Negi conjures up thoughts of last time he was… inside Reina. The way he thought of it and what she said last time, _"But don't think I'm always this easy. I mean, the first date and already you are in me."_ He turns red as these thoughts surface again but he doesn't have much time to worry about that when they feel a sudden increase in G forces.

The massive engine screams as the Ivory Knight flies across Mahora like a jet. Most of the scenery becomes a green and blue blur, seeming to stretch as the Knight picks up speed. To prevent anyone from getting tossed about, and because her engines are on her back, she slowly angles herself backwards until she is traveling straight up.

"Sorry. Forgot to add sudden de-acceleration into the equation," Reina says as she continues upwards. "I didn't want to splatter anyone against a wall." After a short moment, she breaches the clouds. "Hey, at least I can show you this." Her screen changes from grey to blue and white, showing them a view of the cloudscape as she leans forward. "I would have opened the hatch, but there's decompression and stuff to worry about."

The white horizon starts to rise upwards as Negi and Kazumi quickly become weightless. "Have fun guys," Reina tells her two passengers as she heads downwards and the screen becomes grey again.

They spend a brief moment getting used to the weightlessness now handed to them. The two do any number of spins and rolls, laughing at having a once in a lifetime experience. Those trips aren't cheap, you know! 25 seconds of zero gravity experience and the two of them slowly descend back down to the floor, gradually gaining their weight back.

With one minor shake, the mech girl declares, "We've landed. I Hope I didn't make you late."

"I should be fine. And if I tell them I was in the upper atmosphere not a moment ago…" Kazumi smiles at thinking about it.

The hatch opens again and Reina offers her hand as quick transport to the ground. The comparatively small girl takes the offer and gets to the ground in quite a fashion. There are a number of other club members who are shocked at the entrance. Being part of the journalism club they decided to take some pictures. They had heard of the commotion yesterday, but weren't able to get any action shots of the machine. Now is a golden opportunity.

"Thanks," the now focused upon reporter says.

"No problem." The Ivory Knight stands up.

Kazumi shouts up at the mech, "I'll have to ask those questions later!"

As if she's perfectly okay with it, Reina replies, "Okay. Talk to you then." She kneels down and gives an energetic leap up into the air, firing her boost jets at the apex of the jump.

"It sounds like you are making progress with your fear already," Negi observes.

"I think it's the fact," states the mech in response, "that I just feel a lot more comfortable in here. So, didn't you need to meet Konoka and Asuna?"

"Yes, but I still have some time yet."

Reina laughs. "So, you do want to spend time with me…"

Negi rivals tomatoes for redness after she says that. "No, it's not that! I- I couldn't. They'd fire me!"

"So if you weren't a teacher, you'd throw yourself passionately at me, begging for my warm embrace and perhaps a kiss from your lover's lips? I'm not quite sure what to say."

"Ah!" exclaims the boy, "You're reading too much into everything I just said!" He is now in full panic mode.

"I'm just kidding you," Reina admits, "you know. It's fun to watch you squirm around like that."

Exhaling heavily, Negi relaxes.

"So what do you want to do now?"

Negi thinks this over. "How about seeing the tops of the clouds again? That was a lot of fun."

Putting more into her engines, she rises upwards like a giant chunk of metal. "Sounds like a plan then."

Eventually, she rises up out of the clouds like an unmoving shark fin; the clouds coming off of her like water from a swimmer coming out of a pool.

"We're here. If you want, and can give me a few moments, I might be able to open the hatch."

"But wouldn't the decompression kill me?"

Reina says, "That's just it. I can equalize pressure, and if you are still concerned, there are oxygen masks. I can lower one down."

"Okay. I wouldn't mind see the clouds without looking at a screen. If it won't be too much of a problem, that is."

"Not at all. Consider it making up for getting you hurt."

Negi sighs. "Are you still on about that? I thought we agreed to forget it."

"I'm sorry. I just won't feel right till I make up for it."

"You're just that kind of person. You feel you made a mistake and you want to make up for it. That means you are a thoughtful person."

If Reina could, she would blush, but alas she can't. "Um…Well, thanks I guess."

After several minutes, the door opens and Negi is wearing an oxygen mask, while Reina's hands provide a safety barrier. He's looking out at the beautiful scene of the clouds and the curvature of the Earth. The clouds below look like he could step out on them and they would be fluffy. And the silence is amazing. Usually he is dealing with any number girls and whatnot but all that is up here is quiet and engines, which seem quieter than they should. Ah well, he isn't complaining.

Breaking the peace, Reina tells him, "Whenever you are ready to go back, let me know."

He remains up there for a little while longer, trying to get every last second he can without seeming like he's using Reina, not that he doesn't appreciate it. "Yeah," he tells her, "I'm ready to go."

"Okay. Where are you meeting Konoka and Asuna?"

"Downtown."

"I hope I don't spread too much panic. Last thing I need is a bunch of people getting into car wrecks or something." Reina doesn't care to observe the jet that passes, within sight of her radar, behind her.

Oh, but it noticed her.

She flies down past the clouds, further and further down, Mahora getting ever closer. The tops of buildings skim by as she gets ever closer to downtown. Deciding it would be a good move, she slows down.

* * *

Konoka and Asuna are walking along the sidewalk, mostly doing window shopping, when Konoka gets sidetracked by some side store. It has a beautiful crystal ball. The happy brunette ogles it like a kid does a new toy.

"172,000 yen, are they nuts?!" she scoffs.

Asuna sighs, exasperated at her friend's distraction. "Well if you're not going to buy it can we get a move on?" the red-head asks. "He's probably already waiting."

Finding it hard to pull herself away, Konoka agrees. They don't get too far when a large metal white object comes from around the corner of the street ahead.

"That's them," says Negi inside the Ivory Knight.

The mech lands without crushing anything or knocking anything about with its jets. Negi's two roommates recognize the machine right away. They look at each other and jog up to it as it kneels down. The chest hatch opens again and she brings her hand up once more.

Negi hops out and on to the hand. "Don't forget, we have a class field trip coming up soon."

"Right."

"Hiya, Reina-san!" Konoka shouts.

"Hello, Konoka-san, was it?" asks the mech girl. "And Asuna-san, right"

Konoka answers with a "Yep."

Asuna follows with a, "Yes."

"So we'll see you later back at the dorms," Negi tells her.

The Ivory Knight nods and flies off after another powerful jump. That night, Reina is called into the Dean's office. It turns out that the jet Reina ignored earlier reported her to the Japanese Civil Aviation Bureau. They got a hold of him and told him to reprimand the aviation club for going above their allowed airspace.

Reina apologizes for a good 20 minutes.

So that is what that machine is like in action… I can't wait to get myself into it. I just gotta keep feeding, keep on eating the data. Soon I shall be powerful enough to harness full control, and then we'll see who's powerful.

You go girl… Ha ha ha!

**Negima: Femella Intra Machina Chapter 04: End**

**The End of the Chapter Stuff:** Yes this one ran longer than the others by a lot. Sorry. And still no hint of the actual Negima story. Next chapter will be the Kyoto trip, I promise. Otherwise I'll be 400000 words in and not be at Mahorafest… Oh well. FIM was created to be a long term project.

**A Special Thanks Goes To: Eternal-Longing** for once again being a really good proofreader.

**Thanks for Reading!**


	5. Bad Trip: Part One

**Disclaimer:** The characters and story of Negima is property of Ken Akumatsu. I only own my own characters, Reina Whitehall, William Whitehall, Hisao, and whatever few minor characters that show up.

**Author's Notes: **Well this is the beginning of the Kyoto arc and I think this chapter drags, mostly due to the actual arc in the manga. It takes so long to get going so hopefully after this chapter you'll still be a constant reader. This is also going to be the last chapter for a small bit as the Fall game rush begins the on the 14th of October for me with the release of "Dead Space."

I'm a sucker for survival horror.

**Negima: Femella Intra Machina**

**By Dark Dragon Dave**

**Chapter 05: Bad Trip: Part One**

The day of the class trip to Kyoto finally arrives and finds Negi whipping himself out of bed in a rush of excitement. Never before has he ever been early for anything since he came to Mahora. He is quite eager to get the trip started, flitting about like a moth near a light bulb. He completely ignores the noise he is making and ends up waking up Asuna and Konoka.

With a groan, Asuna asks as she rises from her bed, clad in her school clothes, "Could you possibly make any more noise?"

"Come on and wake up!" Negi exclaims, way to chipper for this early hour. "The trip is today! We can't be late! Since I am a teacher, I have to be there earlier."

She grumbles, "Well then, I am going to go back to sleep."

Konoka, resolved to being up, says, "I think I'll make some breakfast. How does that sound?"

"Sound like a good idea. I could use something to eat," Asuna tells her.

* * *

Out in the hallway after breakfast, Asuna preens Negi like a mother bird to its child. She is adjusting his collar and patting down his suit. This makes it a good thing he doesn't have a smudge on his face, that way he can't get the "lick thumb wipe face" routine that is the bane of many kids existences.

"Have you got everything?" Asuna asks.

"Yes!" Negi says with enthusiasm.

"Even your guidebook, passport, and a change of clothes?" she digs further.

"Yes! I've had everything ready for a couple of days now," Negi answers. "Well, I'm heading out now. I'll see you there!"

"Okay, sensei," Asuna says.

"We should get ready too, Asuna," Konoka tells her friend as Negi walks off as happy as a clam.

* * *

Outside, Negi hustles along to the train station, his equipment rattling as he jogs. He passes people by without the slightest thought, other than the trip of course.

"I've been looking forward to this trip. Nara and Kyoto, for five days… I love school trips!" he says.

Chamo pops out from Negi's bag. "Don't forget," he advises, "you still have to deliver that letter to the Kansai Magic Association."

"I also want to see the house that my father the Thousand Master lived in as well. Okay! This is going to be the busiest I've been since I came here! Yeah!" He finally arrives at the station and sees that some of his students have already arrived. "Hey! A lot of you came early!"

Many of those standing around greet him, including Shizuna.

* * *

Like a prairie dog, Chisame's head rises up over the edge of Reina's bed. Reina had rolled over enough to show that she only wears a shirt and panties to bed.

"If I don't say anything," Chisame thinks, "maybe she'll sleep in and we can leave her behind and she can be out of my hair. No… she has the robot thing. She'll just fly there and find us anyway."

With a sigh, she shakes her shoulder. "Hey… Get up. Our trip to Kyoto is today." Reina issues all sorts of protests and mumblings. Chisame tries again "I said 'get up!'"

"…What?" Reina asks without opening her eyes, or really being awake.

"Get dressed and packed! We have the class trip today."

Reina rolls over to face her roommate. "Can't we have it later?" she asks from the land between slumber and the waking world.

Sighing, Chisame shakes her again, "No we can't. You'll be left here otherwise."

This time, she is successful in waking Reina up. The sleeper opens her eyes to see Chisame staring back at her. She shrieks in fright.

"What the hell was that about?!" Chisame asks while checking her ears.

"Umm… You s- scared me w- when you woke me!" Reina lies.

"Scared you? How the hell…" Chisame waves her hands around. "Whatever. Listen, we need to get dressed and get ready for the class trip today."

"Trip?"

"To Kyoto and Nara…"

Reina looks confused as she backs near the wall near the bed. "Why are we g- going there?"

"The brat— I mean Negi-sensei really wanted to see those places."

"Huh… Okay. How l- long will we be th- there?"

Chisame walks Reina through an overview of the trip, telling her how much she needs to pack and such. This little tangent forces them to hastily prepare.

* * *

The two of them run as fast as they can with backpacks to the train station. They find that the rest of the class has shown up and formed their little groups, chatting amongst themselves. As they approach, they slow down to avoid slamming into anyone. Reina slows down quicker so she can hang back and avoid the swarm of girls that are clustering about. She watches as Negi is the center of attention again. A small smile lands on her lips as she finds a pillar to lean on.

The cluster of girls around him is quite large; a few of them are actually talking to each other, rather than to him. Two of them, Yue and Nodoka seem to have brought pillows. Negi quite happily mentions how much he has been looking forward to the trip.

Shizuna steps near the center of the crowd and speaks up. "Would classes 3A, 3D, 3H, 3J, and 3S which are going to Kyoto, please find your homeroom teachers to do a roll call and group division."

Everyone does as she says, well most everyone. Reina catches a mysterious figure out of the corner of her eye, standing farther off in the shadows. It looks like she has a staff with a slight curve with her from what Reina could tell… and a pony tail to one side. She decides to keep her eye out… Shadowy figures are suspicious by nature.

Negi holds up a flag that says 3-A while calling all his students to him. "Okay everyone, listen up!

These are your groups. Group one consists of Fumika, Fumika, Shiina, Kugimiya, and Kakizaki. Group two is Ku-Fei, Lingshen, Hakase, Nagase, Kasuga, and Yotsuba. Group three is Yukihiro, Naba, Murakami, Hasegawa, and Asakura. Group four will be Sasaki, Akashi, Izumi, Whitehall, Tatsumiya, and Okochi. Group five will be Konoe, Kagurazaka, Ayase, Miyazaki, and Saotome. And lastly group six is Sakurazaki, Rainyday, McDowell, and Karakuri.

Please gather into your groups and I will lead you to your seats."

Each group enters the car with their own issues and problems. Negi, food, and stomach problems seem to be the main issues as they all board the train. Negi then thinks to how many groups boarded the train and realizes he is missing one.

"Excuse me, Negi-sensei?" someone asks from behind him.

"Ah… Setsuna-san and Zazie-san."

"Yes. See, I am the leader of group six and there is only me and Zazie-san since Evangeline-san and Chachamaru-san are absent. Is there something we should do?" Setsuna says while Zazie remains ever stoic behind her.

"I see that is a problem. Perhaps you should join another group then. Let's see… Zazie-san, you can go with Iincho-san and Setsuna-san, you can go with Asuna"

Asuna, Konoka, and Ayaka happen to be nearby when he says that.

"That's perfectly fine with me, Negi-sensei," Ayaka tells him. This idea flies with Asuna as well.

Konoka piques up. "Hey Se-chan, looks like we are in the same group together."

Setsuna reacts to this knowledge with only a respectful bow. She quickly turns and walks away without a moment's hesitation. Konoka frowns as her dear friend walks away without saying so much as a word.

* * *

"Eeh… this train is Hikari Number eeh 213 bound for Shin-Osaka," said the voice in a slow drawl. "Here are the stations we will be eeh stopping at…" The train begins to move, rapidly picking up speed as it makes its way to Kyoto. "Next is Nagoya."

Everyone looks like they are having a good time as they sit. Some watch the scenery fly by, others read and chat.

"And with that, we embark on our 15th annual fieldtrip," Negi states. Most of the class cheers in response. "I do believe we will end up with a lot of great memories. With all of the free time, we should be able to have some serious fun. But don't let that stop you from being calm and careful, we don't want to look like a bunch of hooligans and get injured."

A lunch cart enters in from behind him. "So if we could ke— Oof!" It smacks into him indiscriminately.

"Oh… Sorry," apologizes the woman pushing the cart.

Asuna looks embarrassed.

The engineer's voice rings out over the speaker system. "Eeh… please keep the aisle clear for the eeh… box lunch vendors. They eeh… will be coming by your seats."

"Thanks for the timely information," Negi says from the floor.

A bit of time passes and Negi is doing a check to make sure everyone is acting correctly when he comes upon a group of girls playing a card game. Tips, strategies, and suggestions are tossed about as seated generals engage in magical combat on paper. Negi gets a brief overview of the game, and looks at various cards. After several moments he walks away from the battle, content with the activity level of his students… and knowing that is _not_ how magical combat works.

"Ah hah hah. It looks like they are going to have a good time," he comments.

Chamo reminds him, "Let's not forget why we are going, okay Aniki? We need to keep on our toes as well."

"Huh?"

"We need to keep an eye out for the danger the headmaster pointed out."

Several screams ring out.

"Like now," Chamo says.

Negi runs back to find a car full of frogs. Here a frog, there a frog, everywhere a frog frog. Some of the girls are shrieking in response, some are catching them; others are too confused to decide on one or the other. He immediately sets about in picking them up.

"They just came outta nowhere!" says one of the girls.

"I highly doubt that," Negi thinks. "It's got to be a mage, likely one from the west, sent to screw up my mission."

With the efforts of those who weren't freaking out, they manage to catch all the frogs. He quickly brings the situation under control with the help of Ayaka and Ako.

"I knew it, Aniki!" Chamo exclaims. "The Kansai Magic Association is behind this public display of magic."

"Why all the frogs then?"

"It's a distraction meant to confuse you. Probably from the letter, I bet."

"Wait! The letter?!" Negi quickly checks all his pockets. "It's gone! No… This can't happen!" Panic takes over while he searches. Shortly, he finds it in his lower inside coat pocket. He exhales a breath of relief as he holds it out. "Thank goodness I found it."

"Don't do that to me again," orders Chamo, who is in a state of anger and reprieve.

A paper bird flies out of nowhere and snags the letter from Negi's hand in the blink of an eye. He looks stunned as he realizes it is no longer there.

"Aniki! A bird!" Chamo points at it while as it flies down the aisle. They both give chase to the bird, rushing past any number of seats and students, past Asuna and a small group of others. "Keep after it," orders the ermine. "It's an Onmyou god."

"A what?!"

"Traditional Japanese magic. It's a paper golem so it's not a living thing."

"It's picking up speed. I can't keep up with it."

"What about your wand?"

"Thanks to Eva-san I have a few tricks in the wings."

"What are you waiting for? Use them."

Negi draws his wand and begins reciting a spell but gets tripped up by Reina. "I'm sorry," he says as she tumbles to the floor.

"Negi-sensei?" Reina asks after she picks herself up.

The paper bird continues to fly through the cars, seeming to be right there when the doors open. Negi tries to keep up with it as it makes its way through the train. Eventually it comes across a lone figure with a single pony tail on the left side of its head. It's Setsuna Sakurazaka.

In a flash of no movement she draws her sword, slices the bird, and sheaths the weapon with a click. The paper golem splits in two, causing the letter to drift to the ground. She picks it up and takes a good look.

"Stop right there!" demands Negi of the mysterious —

"Negi-sensei?" asks Setsuna.

"Sakurazaka-san? What are you doing here?"

"I found this on the floor. I trust this is yours."

"Uh... Yes! That is a very important letter. Thanks for helping me."

"It would pay to be more careful while in Kyoto," Setsuna advises before walking away.

"Don't be thanking her. I think she was the one that did it. The paper bird did fly back here and all," advises Chamo.

Negi looks confused. "You think so? Could another of my students be an enemy?"

"Negi-sensei?" a voice asks from behind him. It's Reina Whitehall. "Did that thing just speak?" she asks while pointing at Chamo.

Chamo looks like he is caught with his hands in the cookie jar. Negi carries a similar expression. Stuttering to explain, Negi replies, "N- ta… No! No. I was… Ventriloquism. Yeah. See?" He grabs Chamo and starts stretching his cheeks in and out.

"Wha-a-a-a do-o you-u-u shink you're do-o-o-ing?" Chamo asks between stretchings, tears of pain forming in his eyes.

"Negi-sensei, I can't believe you just did that!" Reina scolds. She grabs Chamo and holds him to her chest like she was holding a cat. "Don't be mean to animals just to throw your voice." While holding him up, she asks, "You okay, little guy? Yeah." He takes the opportunity to snuggle closer to her chest.

"Um, Reina-san, I…"

"Such a cutie," remarks the girl. She has now resorted to hugging the perverted ermine, who is looking wholeheartedly pleased.

"Can I get him back please?"

"Sure, here you go. Just be nice to him, okay?" She hands the happy ermine back. "So what's with the letter?"

"Oh… that's nothing," Negi says while waving his hands in front of him. "Just a letter I need to deliver to a friend of the Headmaster is all. He wanted it to be hand delivered."

"Oh, okay. Say, what was with the rushing by earlier? You knocked me over."

"She's asking all the right questions," the teacher thought. "Too close for comfort."

"I really needed to talk to Setsuna-san, is all."

"Okay. Well, I'll talk to you later."

"Hold up a second!" commands Negi causing Reina to stop. "How are you coming along?"

"How do you mean?"

"Are you taking sitting with the other girls well?"

Reina looks down and away at that question. "Actually I've been spending a lot of the time on the men's restroom, hoping that no one notices I'm gone. So far I think it's going well."

"The men's restroom?"

"Yeah, I figured in a class of all girls, they'd be less likely to see me there."

"Makes sense, but you can't hang around in there the whole ride." Negi grabs her hand and instructs as he walks off, "Come on. You've been delaying this kind of stuff for too long."

"Geh…" Reina complains as she is hauled off.

* * *

Reina sits in between Akira and Mana with a "deer in the headlights" look. She can feel herself shrink away in the seat. _Try making small talk_ she was told as they walked back to her seat. Which one of them looks the friendliest? The one with the darker skin tone has cold eyes… Reina gives her a nervous smile and turns to Akira.

"Eh…" She gulps a bit. "He- llo…" Akira looks at her and smiles back. "S- So what do you… for…" She looks down and away. Man, this is hard. "What d- do you do for… a club… activity?"

"I'm on the swim team," Akira replies.

"Well, Th- That keeps me out."

"Oh? Why?" Akira asks.

"Oh, jeez… She's talking to me…" Reina dreads in her own mind.

"Eh… W- Well I can't have prol- longed exposure to water around my head."

"Ah… you have those things. That's got to be kind of limiting."

"Eh, not s- so much. It g- gives me a re- reason to not waste t- time and water in the shower."

"So are you going to participate in any activities?"

Reina takes a calming breath to settle her nerves. So far so good… "I don't know of anything that might suit me." The triumph she feels as she made it through without stuttering in fear is incredible.

It is short lived as Akira asks, "What do you like to do?"

"Well, I like to read… and train in my mech. But th- they couldn't possibly have any clubs like that." Reina realizes the stutter has come back, making her feel a bit more depressed. Just when she thought she was making progress. She brought her phone with her as a kind of distraction and it seems to be helping a little as she clutches it.

"Well, there are plenty of clubs that have to deal with the library. So you are likely to find one. And there is a robotics club… but you generally need to be in the top percentage of students to join, much like Chao-san and Satomi-san."

"I'm not that smart…" Reina says while looking down at her knees. Suddenly she feels cold dread as a hand touches her shoulder.

Akira has placed her hand there in a move to bolster confidence. "You seem awfully nervous. It's gotta be hard being the new student. Don't worry, you'll settle in soon enough." Not soon enough, she removes it.

"That's basically what Takahata said," the shy Reina thinks. "Need to just keep talking."

Another breath and Reina speaks again. "Thanks for that. I'm quite used to being by myself a lot."

"Oh? No brothers or sisters?" Akira asks.

"Well… I had a brother… once." Reina looks off into the distance while saying that.

"I'm sorry to hear that. If you need anyone to talk to about that, Iincho-san can help you," advises Akira

"Which one is she?"

"The tall blonde over there."

Reina looks at her. "I'll… keep it in mind."

* * *

The train arrives and the girls quickly disembark, ready to get this trip truly underway. The first scheduled stop is the Kiyomizu Temple. Many of the girls cluster around near the guard rail while a few listen to Yue's retelling of an old tale, the one about the suicidal lovers. A small number of the girls are shocked to learn of the history if the place. A couple of students take pictures of the scene. Chisame is exasperated at the excitement of her classmates.

"The Jiju Shrine is right up there," she points. "It's highly popular among women for love predictions."

A good majority of the class reacts positively to that news, most of them begin to crowd around Negi. Ayaka, having been right next to him anyway, begins to work her brand of magic on the poor boy.

"What do you say, Negi-sensei? Perhaps we should go figure out the love predictions?" asks the class rep in a sultry tone. Several other students hear that and add their 'Me toos' to the pile. Ayaka raged in response, flames in her eyes, "Back off! I asked first, you know!"

As they are leaving, something is happening across the street. Two thunder cracks sound out heralding the arrival of an ice covered, steel colored car. The letters "DMC" sit in the grill. A white haired man gets out, finds the nearest rubbish bin, takes a few choice bits of trash, and dumps them in a white device on the back of the car. He then gets back in and takes off, disappearing with a few more thunder cracks and two parallel flaming trails.

Negi gets strewn back and forth in the swarm as they make their way to the "Love Stone," while Chamo complains in the young teacher's ear the whole time. Three of the girls, Ayaka, Makie, and Nodoka line up and begin walking to the other stone. Nodoka quickly veers off course and walks into a nearby building.

"With my many black belts, there's no way I can lose this," Ayaka says as she increases her pace and pulls ahead. "With my heart full of love I shall claim my prize of the heart of Negi-sensei!"

Slightly peeking, Makie calls out Ayaka. "You've gotta have your eyes open, there's no other way."

"Not even, Makie-san. And when I get to that stone, love will truly blossom between me and Negi-sensei, a love that will truly be—"

Running with your eyes closed is just as bad an idea as willingly stopping a punch with your face. Accidents happen when you aren't careful. So of course Makie and Ayaka fall in to a pit. It's only natural, isn't it? They shriek as they plummet into the newly formed hole in the ground. See? Always look where you are going.

Negi helps pull Makie out of the hole in the ground and Asuna helps Ayaka. It seems that Ayaka slipped on another frog while running blind. Nodoka ends up making it to the stone unaided and still with her eyes closed.

"It the Kansai Magic Association again, it has to be. What are they trying to do?" Negi thinks while Ayaka tries to clear her name from cheating. He looks back to see Setsuna staring at them. "She's up to something. I wonder…"

"Whatever guys, right? Come on. Let's go to the Otowa Waterfalls. Whadya say, Negi?" asks Asuna.

"Huh," Negi looks back at Asuna. "Yeah, sure. Ottawa… What about Canada again?"

"You weren't even listening. Just say 'okay' and follow us," advises Asuna.

As he follows behind, Chamo whispers into his ear, "There's something that just isn't right with that Setsuna girl. She's gotta be working for the Kansai Magic Association."

"Perhaps…"

Most of the girls are near the three different waterfalls, waiting for Yue to explain what each does. When she gets done briefing what each one does they begin to drink from the left one like someone who's just gotten through wandering in the desert for a week. It's not long before they pass out. Yuna proves her ability to hold her alcohol by passing out last.

This causes Negi throw himself headlong into a panic. It's short lived as he sees something above where the water pours out. He climbs up there to find a bucket with a hose, attached via a bunghole, leading into the left waterfall.

"Someone's been putting alcohol in the water! Who would do such a thing?!"

Those who didn't drink begin dragging the ones who did to an out of the way spot so they won't get trampled over by other patrons. Nitta and Seruhiko walk by the spot to see the lot of them passed out stinking drunk.

Nitta sniffs the air. "Are all these students passed out drunk?" he asks Negi in a harsh tone while Yue tries slapping Ayaka.

"Wake up! There gonna cancel the whole trip and I'll hold you personally responsible," Yue tells the rep.

"Aaahh… No! They… They, umm…" flounders Negi.

Asuna comes in with the save. "They're just wiped out. So much excitement in one day, you know. They just decided to find a nice place to take a nap is all."

The infamous ogre looks them over with a face that exudes dissatisfaction. "Then why does it smell like sake?"

"I don't know… maybe there's a brewery near here?" Negi shrugs.

Both older teachers give each other a look that cuts right through that excuse. "Listen," Seruhiko says, "don't let us catch them like this again. Next time we'll go to the headmaster."

Negi swallows in reaction. "Right, yes."

"Damn liquor companies…" Seruhiko remarks under his breath. "Always marketing to kids."

"I blame the inadequacies of…"

It's not much longer after that that Shizuna walks by to see the same scene that the two previous teachers saw before her. "Is something going on?" They fly the same excuse by her and she seems a bit more accepting of the "taking a nap idea."

Setsuna, standing just out of sight continues watching the Negi, Konoka, Asuna, and Yue.

* * *

Later on in the lodge on Arashi Mountain, Negi is sitting on a bench near a vending machine. He's thinking about Setsuna and how she seems connected to the spiked water.

"How did she even get it? I mean the legal drinking age here is 20. There's no way she could have bought it."

Chamo sighs. "Considering what she's done, I wouldn't doubt if she's one of those black market types."

"That's plausible…" Negi says. "I wish there was some way we could get more proof though." He stands up and tries the vending machine.

"I think we have all the proof we need."

The machine refuses to cough up the goods in "B-7," no matter how much he pounds on it.

Asuna comes along and see this. She walks up to the machine and bops it a good one. With a _ker-klunk_ the machine releases its death grip on Negi's fruit juice. Leaning up against the machine, Asuna gives Negi a thumbs up with both hands and says "Heeey!"

"Thanks Fon— er, Asuna," Negi says as he opens the can.

"No problem. I finally got everything smoothed over with Nitta and Seruhiko and everyone is sound asleep. So… Mind telling me what the hell happened there?"

Negi proceeds to spill the beans on the Kansai Magic Association's involvement with the frogs and the tainted water.

"Well that explains that. If you need my strength let me know," Asuna tells him. "I'm willing to help."

Negi gets all misty-eyed at the offer. "Thanks, Asuna-san."

"So, I'm thinking Setsuna is working for the Kansai Association as a spy. Whadya think of that?"

Asuna looks shocked. "But Konoka and her have been friends since they were kids. She couldn't be… Could she? I don't see them talk to each other anymore, I will say that."

Negi snaps his fingers and runs over to his backpack. He rustles about in it for a few seconds and pulls out his class roster. "See? Right here," he points at Setsuna's picture, "Kyoto's written right here."

"I think this is the final nail in the coffin on this argument!" Chamo exclaims. "She's working with Kansai Magic Association as an assassin!"

"That's reaching for it a bit much, don't you think?" Asuna asks.

"Negi-sensei, the teachers are quitting today with an early bath," Shizuna says from behind him causing him to make a slight _eep_ in response.

He says afterwards, "Err, Okay. Yeah, Shizuna-sensei."

"We can talk about this later," Asuna says. "Group five will be taking baths soon. Is your evening clear after that?"

"Yes."

* * *

Negi sits with Chamo in the bath. "Aahhhh… Man, this'd be better if we didn't have to deal with Setsuna. The breeze is awesome."

Chamo adds, "She's always got that sword with her. That thing will cut you in two before you could finish a spell."

"Swordsmen and wizards are often at odds."

The sounds of clattering draw their attention back to the doorway. They see Setsuna washing herself off, dunking the small bucket into the water and pouring it over herself. The water splashes down around her. Negi slinks back down to prevent from being seen.

Whispering, he asks, "Why the two entrances if they lead to the same room?"

"That's mixed bathing for you," answers Chamo.

He turns back and observes her a bit more. "Wow… she's really beautiful."

"I gotta second you on that one, Aniki," he says and adds a pervy chuckle.

"Hey, hey, hey… I wasn't getting at that."

"Listen, either way, you need to get the heck outta here. There's no way you can take her in a head-to-head fight without a partner. Go!"

Setsuna begins talking to what she believes to be herself. "What a tough spot this has become. If Negi-sensei truly is a wizard…"

The young wizard asks, "How does she know I am a wizard?!" He begins to shake as he grasps his magic wand tighter. "She is a spy after all…"

Setsuna senses something is wrong. This prompts her to rush over to where Negi is, draw her sword.

"Essence of the Shinmei School… Rock slicing sword!" She slashes at the rock, cutting it in half.

It is close enough that the poor teacher lost a few hairs.

"Good lord! She sliced it like it was nothing!" Negi thinks to himself.

He spins around, draws his wand and begins to incant. "_Flans exclamatio!_"

Setsuna's sword goes flying off behind her, spiraling through the air. "Way to go! She isn't a threat now!" Chamo shouts.

Setsuna sneers and continues her assault. She quickly closes in and grabs the boy by his privates. "Tell me who you are or I'll give you the world's quickest sex change operation!" demands the crotch grabbing girl while tightening her grip. The prone child simply says nothing as he's too traumatized to even think.

The water spray clears from her charge and the swordsgirl can see exactly whose testicles she's threatening to crush. "Negi-sensei!?"

"Oooh… That's gotta hurt," Chamo says when he sees that.

Negi continues to shiver nervously, too scared to do anything that may prove… painful.

She quickly lets go, holding her hand up weakly, embarrassed by what she's just done. "Oh, I am so sorry, Negi-sensei! I- I didn't mean to. It's one of the attack theories for what I do."

Tears streak down the child's face.

She turns an even deeper red as she looks at the hand that caused the trouble. Quickly putting it down, she apologizes even more.

"Listen, Setsuna Sakurazaki, we know you are a spy and assassin with the Kansai Magic Association!"

"Ah! No, you're wrong. I am not a spy or an assassin."

"Bull!" Chamo exclaims. "It's so obvious there's no point in covering it up!"

"I'm not though, in fact, for right now, I am your ally."

Negi clears up a bit to ask, "What do you mean by that?"

"You see," Setsuna explains, "Konoka Ojou-sama is my—" A scream cuts her story short. "That sounds like Konoka Ojou-sama!" Without a moment's hesitation, she runs back to the entrance as fast as she can in water.

Negi gives chase as well. "Come on, this is another stunt!" Chamo tells the boy.

"I heard it, but she said she is my ally. What does she mean?"

The two of them and the ermine step into the entrance to see Konoka and Asuna dealing with a bunch of monkeys. Underwear stealing monkeys with penchant for touching.

"Hey, Negi! Help, these monkeys are trying to steal our underwear."

Before anyone can do anything, they snag Konoka's bra and panties. She turns red under the gaze of both her sensei and her friend. "I don't want to you to see me naked."

"What am I looking at?" Negi asks.

Konoka says, "It's called a v—"

"I think he means the monkeys!" Asuna interjects.

Setsuna rears her blade up. "What are you doing to my Ojou-sama? I'll slice you into bits."

"That's going a bit far! And that sword is real?!" Asuna asks.

"Please don't kill the monkeys!" pleads Negi as he grabs Setsuna.

"Negi-sensei, these are simply a bunch of crappy little Onmyou gods," Setsuna tells him, "Killing them simply reverts them back to paper."

While she is distracted, a paper monkey grabs her towel and yanks with all its force. She spins around, tackles Negi which knocks him to the floor, and ends up sitting on his chest, giving him a full view of Konoka's explanation.

The sword wielding girl embarrassingly backs away. "Please don't get in my way!"

"I wasn't!"

"Hey you two, the monkeys are taking Konoka!"

Setsuna kips up and preps her sword. "Not if I have anything to say about it!" She bolts out the door fast enough to resemble flying. "Essence of the Shinmei School…" she begins as dust flies away from her path, "Sword of a hundred flaming cherry blossoms!" In that instant, she grabs Konoka and every dirty little monkey shreds to confetti.

Konoka looks on amazed at what her friend just did. Negi senses something up in a nearby tree, just as Setsuna does. Whatever or whoever it is escapes before they can do anything about it.

"Se-chan…" Konoka bubbles, "Thank you so much for helping me."

Setsuna turns red and stutters. "Uh, erm… I." She drops Konoka and runs off with her sword in hand.

Konoka stands up and watches her friend leave her behind, her heart heavy with sadness.

Asuna asks, "What the hell? Is there something going on between you two? She called you sister…"

"Well, I suppose I should have told you this earlier… You see…" Konoka begins.

* * *

Reina snuck out from her group earlier and is now sitting alone on a bench she found in a small, out of the way, park. The bench is placed on a small out crop that itself provides a nice view of some trees, a few buildings, and the soft glow of a few street lights.

She thinks about that strange girl with the covered blade she saw back at the train depot. Setsuna wasn't it? What was she up to and who has a sword anymore? Is she plotting something? Something deep down in her didn't like swords. If she was going to hurt someone, fear or no, she means to stop it.

"I won't let that happen," Reina declares.

"Won't let what happen?" asks a voice from behind her.

She turns to see a boy with white hair and blue eyes behind her. "Oh!" She blushes when she realizes she was talking to herself. "I'm sorry. I was just thinking out loud. I wasn't disturbing you, was I?"

"No."

"My name is Reina Whitehall. What's your name?"

"Hmm… You can call me Fate, Fate Averruncus," the boy says. "Whitehall… That sounds familiar."

"Yeah…" Reina blushes again. "You must follow the field of robotics."

"No."

The white haired girl raises an eyebrow. "Uh… Perhaps the newspaper or the televised news?"

"I don't care to wrap myself up with current events all that often." He looks out at the tress and the few buildings between them.

"Huh… Oh! Where are my manners? Please have a seat." Reina moves over to allow Fate room. He moves around and sits down. "So, what bring you to this park, Fate-san?"

"I'm in Kyoto on business."

"Really? You seem about my age… Unless… Are you the son of a big business owner?"

"No."

Reina crosses her arms, purses her lips, and looks upwards in thought. She comes to a conclusion. "Maybe… You don't run your own business, do you?"

"No."

The girl remains quiet for a few moments while she puzzles over the strange boy she's just met. "You sure are an odd one aren't you?"

"Yes."

For what seems like the first time so far, Fate looks at Reina. "White hair and green eyes…" he comments.

The girl raises an eyebrow. "Yeah… What about it?"

Quietly, the boy asks, "I'd like to meet you again. Do you think you could manage that?"

"Bit straightforward, but it seems like your style. Sure, there's a free day coming up. Want to meet back here then?"

"No. I'll contact you. You are with that school that's staying at that lodge, right?"

This all seems weird to the girl. "Uh, yeah. How did you know?"

"I've seen a lot of you wandering around, and going into, that place. It's a logical conclusion when you all wear a similar looking uniform," Fate explains to the girl.

"I suppose so," Reina says realizing that it was quite obvious.

Fate is quiet for a couple of moments. A breeze rolls through that rustles the trees, making them resemble great dark green waves.

Shattering his own silence, Fate asks. "That thing behind your ear, what is it?"

"Err… You sure you don't have a link to the robotics industry?"

"Yes."

He's hard to read. Could he be lying, or is he telling the truth? "Well, there are two of them. One here, and," she points to the one on the other side of her head, "here. They allow me to download my mind into a mech."

"That sounds like a deep secret, are you sure that's something you should reveal so easily?"

"Well, I tell you because if you attempt to try the same thing, you'll probably end up with a lot of corpses."

"So your brain is part machine?"

"To a point, yes."

"That's interesting," Fate says. Reina blushes again. This time she doesn't know if that is a compliment or something else. "Remember, I'll contact you." He stands up and begins to walk away, his shoes grinding the loose pebbles as he moves.

"Don't you need my number?" Reina asks.

Obviously not as Fate replies, "I'll leave a message at the front desk." He winds his way into the dark of the late evening sun, quickly walking out of view.

"This all seems way too strange…" Reina thinks to herself as she watches him walk away. "Right now I have that sword girl to worry about." The near night and highly visible street lights tell her to go back to the lodge.

* * *

At the lodge Setsuna is setting up a magical barrier, using a stepstool to place a spell tag above the door frame. She steps down to investigate how smooth she got it. No air bubbles, no wrinkles, all good. When she's satisfied, she gives a small, happy, smile. She picks up the small ladder to put it back and meets Negi and Asuna when she turns.

"What are you doing?" Negi asks, investigating the paper above the door.

Setsuna answers, "I am repaying the Onmyou gods."

"So," Negi asks, "that means you can use magic?"

"Well, Japanese magic," Setsuna answers while they walk over to the nearby foyer. They all sit down at the same small glass table in white chairs. "Is it okay to talk about this with Asuna-san here?"

"Trust me," the red-head says, "at this point I don't even bother asking why anymore."

Negi concurs with, "Yeah, she's cool."

"Okay. Well, the enemy is turning up the heat and at this rate I fear for Konoka Ojou-sama. I think you would be the one to go to, Negi-sensei, since you are a brilliant Western Mage. But the way you been acting leaves me to believe otherwise."

The young mage turns a slight hint of crimson out of embarrassment while scratching the back of his head. "I'm still a little green."

"So you're one of us then?" Chamo asks.

Setsuna sighs, "Yes. Why do I have to keep telling you this?"

"Sorry for that. Aniki was suspicious of you because of all of my theories," admits the ermine sheepishly.

"Well now that you are on our side, can you tell us who is behind the attack?" Negi asks.

"I believe," she explains, "it is a rogue faction within the Kansai Magic Association. And it is also a fair bet that it is a talisman user, since they've been using Onmyou gods. They came from this area long ago, using Onmyoudou as a basis, but just like Western Mages, they are defenseless while incanting spells." She goes on to compare and contrast the relationships both style of mages have.

When she is finished, Negi says, "Wow, with the word 'demon,' it sounds pretty powerful."

"There is also a relationship between my style of swordsmanship and the Kansai Association. Our founder, Shinmei Ryu, was the leader of the talisman guardians, formed to protect Kyoto and right the wrongs of improperly used magic. They were so powerful that they proved to be quite dangerous in the Magic War. Fortunately, such wars are unlikely this day and age."

"Wait! Wouldn't that make the Shinmei School an enemy as well?"

"Yes. It is my fault for that. Leaving and going east makes me a traitor to them. But so long as I am able to protect Ojou-sama, I am okay with that. And I will not be satisfied until I can."

"Alright!" Asuna trumpets. "You've proven you don't hate Konoka, so I'll definitely help."

The offer is a bit much for Setsuna to realize. It takes her a moment to grasp it. "Thank you… Kagurazaka-san."

"Okay! With that out of the way, we are now the 'Guardian Angels' of class 3-A!" Negi concludes.

"We need a code name?" Asuna thinks.

Negi takes off, and heads to the door. "We could be attacked at any time, so I'm going to patrol."

Too late to argue, Asuna asks, "Shouldn't we stay as a group?"

Negi doesn't hear her as he approaches the sliding door. He ends up having to dodge out of the way of a woman pushing a linen cart, running past with a goofy smile on his face. The linen lady looks back with a sneer and a single laugh.

The cart woman makes her way further into the building, practically running to her destination. She knocks Natsumi and Kazumi out of the way. "Outta the way, damn it!" she says as she bolts past.

* * *

Group four, or rather 5/6ths of group four is in their room, dressed for bed. The absent Reina's backpack is still in the corner of the room where she left it earlier. A few of them were worried about what has happened. Mana seems dispassionate about the whole thing, choosing to sit near the window and look out at the lights, both on land and in the sky.

"What if she was brutally dragged off into a dark alley and murdered?" Makie asks.

"M- Murdered?!" Ako boggles.

Yuna is quick to counter that with, "Don't think like that!"

"She's a nervous kind of person, sort so you'd think she would have come back by now," observes Akira.

"If she was, they'll cancel the trips from here on out," Makie adds.

"Now you're cheapening her life!" Yuna tells Baka Pink.

"I think you are forgetting something," states Mana from her chair. Her speaking up causes everyone to fall silent. "She has that phone."

Baka Pink acts up again. "But it'd take so long to get here. They could kill her, bring her back, and kill her again!"

"That's not even possible!" Yuna corrects her.

"Do you think we should go looking for her?" Ako asks the group.

"We could ask Negi-sensei," suggests Akira.

"But he could get fired!" Makie tells them.

That sends a bad feeling through the group, making most of them sad. Mana, of course, seems unmoved by this revelation.

Part of being a good sniper is having sharp ears to tell you when you are being surrounded. Mana can hear footsteps approaching from down the hallway. "Female… roughly my height… it's either her or Shizuna-sensei."

"Huh?" Makie asks. As if answering that question, the door to the room opens up to reveal the missing white haired girl.

Makie begins to blubber as she gets up and runs to Reina. This catches Reina by surprise since she gives a slight shriek as Makie grabs her in a big ol' baka hug.

"We began to think you brutally murdered in an alleyway!" let out the emotional gymnast.

Reina is struggling to get away like a wolf from a trap. This is the closest a girl's ever gotten to her and it was scaring the hell out of her. All the murder talk isn't helping either. "Murdered?! What the hell are you talking about?! Lemme go!" If it isn't for the fact she thinks she would likely taste nasty, she'd gnaw something off.

Yuna acts as the sedative and tells Makie to settle down. She turns to Reina, who is now against the wall near her backpack, and says, "We were getting worried about you. What were you up to?"

She begins to settle down a bit more, returning back to her normal level of fear now that Makie isn't "Oh… I was talking to a b- boy in the park ne- near here."

"Oooh?" Yuna asks in a 'tell me more' manner. "But you seem like such a shy person. Talking to boys in the park sounds so unlike you."

"A- Actually, I find that—"

"What's he like? What's his name? Does he live around here?" Makie asks.

"He's got… the pret- tiest pale blue eyes…" Everyone present giggles, causing Reina to blush. "Perhap- ps a bit cold, but I'll chalk that up to being n- nervous, and w- white hair. He's sh- orter than me. And his name is… well I can't re- remember off-hand, but it was fa- fairly strange. He also said h- he was in Kyoto on b- business and that he wants to me… meet me again later," Reina tells them, quickly turning red at the fact she stumbled through that description like an oaf.

Giddiness riding high in her voice, Yuna asks with a brash, "Could Reina-san have a new boyfriend?"

"Come on you guys," Akira tells Makie and Yuna, "leave her alone. She's obviously embarrassed enough."

"Alright…" Yuna says. "Anyway, it's time for bed. She can spill it all in the morning over breakfast."

* * *

Konoka walks to the bathroom after Asuna woke her up by coming in from patrol. Her feet quietly pad on the floor as she stumbles blearily about. She walks around someone who has fallen asleep in the hallway, she would look and see who it is but if she didn't get to the toilet soon… well it is best not to think about it. She slides the door open and sees a large monkey.

"Sorry, didn't know it was occupied," Konoka says and closes the door and begins walking back as if it's perfectly normal for a big monkey to be using the toilet. About a quarter of the way back, a question pops into her mind only a monkey can answer. She moseys back to the restroom and opens the door again.

"Shouldn't you be throwing your—" Before she can finish that sentence, a monkey paw covers her mouth and drags her into the restroom.

"What a strange thought for such a girl."

It takes quite some time for anyone to realize that something is wrong. Setsuna is the first to realize that Konoka is taking far too long. A gentle rapping on the door gets a reply of "Occupied," in a sing-song voice. Setsuna and Asuna simply look at each other, not knowing what to do.

Yue, however, slides the door open, ignoring all courtesy and shouting "You've been in there long enough!" There's being patient and then there is having to take a leak really badly.

However, there is no one in there at all, simply a paper tag that speaks. Yue rips it as she opens the lid. "Okay, my turn," she says as she closes the door. Before she does, she notices neither of the two that were with her are there now. Also, it seems Reina is sleeping in the hallway.

Whatever… She's gotta go!

* * *

Negi is on patrol, walking up some steps, while he talks to Chamo about some of the other points to the pactio cards. Telepathy, summoning, and invoking all in one convenient package. The boy marvels at the card's abilities until Chamo and him hear screaming.

"You better try the telepathy function out!" Chamo instructs.

Negi nods and places the card to his head. "(Asuna, can you hear me? What's going on?)" Only silence answers him. "It's no good, I can't hear her." His phone rings suddenly, rubbing him the wrong way, "Oh, I don't have time for this now." Opening it, he says in a rather frustrated manner, "Hello?"

It's Asuna. "What the hell was that?! Listen, Konoka's been kidnapped! What are we going to do now?"

"What?!"

As if to answer his question, the crescent moon silhouettes an odd monkey shape in its pale light. The monkey lands in front of him, spreading dust everywhere in a nice round circle as it lands.

"M- Monkey?" Negi stammers, unable to fully process what's going on. Then he sees her. In the monkey's arm is Konoka, passed out for some unknown reason.

"It's been fun, you cute little wizard, but now I gotta run." The monkey jumps up and away as quickly as it landed.

"Hold it right there Monkey Butt!"

"Monkey butt?!" asks the abductor, taking offense at the remark. She makes a passing glance down and behind herself.

"_Rastel Magi_—" Unfortunately, Negi cannot finish as he is quickly swarmed with a bunch of small monkeys, one of which is covering his mouth.

"Gah!" Chamo exclaims as he tries to help his monkey infested friend. "Time to spank the monkey!" He gives the primate as strong a kick in the butt as he can, sending the paper golem flying.

Asuna and Setsuna arrive to find Negi buried in the weird paper golems and Chamo fighting them off.

"They're gone! Damn!" shouts the teacher.

"No they aren't!" notes the ermine. "While you were covered, I saw them head that way." He points off to the direction of the train station and they give chase.

After much running, the trio and talking animal arrives at the depot, chasing the giant monkey and all its small little friends to a train. They bypass a talisman to keep normal away and enter a train ready to fight. The person in the monkey get-up flips a paper strip out to them. A massive burst of water flows out from the small piece of paper, flooding the train in several cars rather rapidly. Negi and the two girls get knocked back from the force of the blast.

As the train flies down the track, water streams out of various holes within the shell of the cars. The kidnapper smiles as her plot seems to have produced some results.

Counteracting that glimmer of hope, Setsuna, in her heart of hearts, finds the power necessary to slice at the water and rip the door out of its track and send it ramming into the person in the monkey outfit.

The train stops and when the doors open, water gushes out like water from a hole in a dam. The monkey lady coughs and spits up as she recovers from eating door and almost drowning. A metallic rattle draws her attention upwards. Setsuna stands over her with her sword pointed right at her head.

"Give back Konoka Ojou-sama," demands Setsuna. "I shall not ask again."

The abductor laughs as she points down. Another talisman is on the floor. While Setsuna looks, the large monkey rolls back as flames rise up between the two parties, separating them.

"You cannot make it past these flames," gloats the woman in the costume.

Once again, she is proven wrong when Negi casts a wind spell to blow the fire out. She stands there with a surprised expression on her face and holding Konoka. Negi invokes the power of his contract with Asuna. She can feel the power flowing through her as she summons her mighty, mighty, evil destroying… fan?

"What the hell is this?!" the fan wielding girl asks.

"Maybe you have to achieve Bankai!" Negi states.

"I don't have that kind of time!"

"Stop talking and just use it!" Setsuna orders.

Asuna continues to grumble while swinging. "I don't think cooling her down will do any good!"

As Setsuna and Asuna go in for the kill, another monkey and a bear show up and block their attacks. As the summoner prepares to walk off, she hoists Konoka over her shoulder. Asuna takes another swing with her fan and the monkey boils and flows and shreds away into nothingness.

"What the f—" asks the woman holding Konoka, getting cut off by the appearance of another person.

"Are you really having this much trouble, Chigusa?" asks this new girl in singsong voice. "Well, it doesn't matter, I'm here now."

"And who are you?" Setsuna asks.

"I am Tsukuyomi of the Shinmei Ryu school," says the bespectacled girl with a slight giggle.

Setsuna grits her teeth and lunges at the new foe. Swords clash as the two try their damnedest to strike one another. Tsukuyomi's two swords prove quite effective in blocking Setsuna's one. By the same token, none of Tsukuyomi's attacks can get past Setsuna's better defense.

Chigusa takes this opportunity to take off, having her monkey minions carry away the unconscious Konoka. Her fleeing is brought to a halt with a simple phrase. "Rastel maskel magister! Eleven wind spirits! Become a chain that binds and captures my enemy!" as the young wizard fires off several streams of light.

"Damn it! That kid!" Chigusa grabs a hold of Konoka and swings her captive from off her minions to out in front of her, intending to make a shield out of the young girl.

The boy wizard bends the angle of the attacks and sends them flying off in different directions in order to protect Konoka. "Come on! Fight fair."

"No chance in hell kid. You won't attack me when I use her to defend and that's your weakness." Chigusa's posture changes to that of someone who feels confident and victorious, standing straight and shoulders out. "Now if you don't mind, I'm going to take Konoka and her cute little white butt, and leave." She gives Konoka's aforementioned butt a slap.

This does nothing but piss Setsuna off. She knocks Tsukuyomi for a grand loop and charges for her Ojou-sama's abductor, practically flying along the ground. Asuna also breaks free of the bear she is fighting and heads in the same direction. Sensing the right timing, Negi begins a spell…

* * *

Far away from the fight, Fate meets with someone.

This person is an artificer, and he sells the items he creates. This person, this man of construction and creation, wears a long, white lab coat, with a black band around his left shoulder, perhaps as a sign of some former guild or insignia. He has rusty orange hair that leans back in a mess and a beard with a grand moustache to match. He wears a pair of goggles with several sight enhancement devices. His pants aren't visible with the coat, but he is wearing black shoes.

"Is it ready, artificer? She even showed me her connections."

"It's been forever since a woman has shown me her connections," comments the Artificer.

"Don't try any humor with me. Simply hand over the device. Simple as that."

"Fine." He reaches into his coat and removes a metal box about the size of four DVD cases with two wires coming out of opposite ends. "These wires are guaranteed to fit and the rest is guaranteed to override her mind, causing her to blank out and induce a nightmare like state for as long as it's attached. And as per your specification, it's been 'safety locked.'"

"Good. I don't want anyone removing it." Fate takes the device and puts it under one arm like he is carrying a book. "So what password did you give it?"

The Artificer hands him a slip of paper. Fate unfolds it and memorizes the words within. Not a moment afterwards, it starts on fire and burns to ashes. "Good."

"I must ask, why that girl anyway?"

"That is my business and my business alone."

"Heh… As you wish. You paid me and I rendered my services. My involvement stops there," the Artificer says and turns around. "You know how to contact me if you need anything else." White beams of light surround him like the aurora borealis. He fades from existence.

Fate spends a couple of moments looking at the box as he holds it before he heads off as well, placing it once again under an arm.

* * *

"Oooooh… It seems she's gone and she's left it undefended. It's almost as if she wants me to. Hee hee hee! I like it here. They're too stupid to know I'm hanging around here. Though even with that, I think I'll wait till she returns. She'll make it all the more easier.

Go ahead and have your fun for now."

**Negima: Femella Intra Machina Chapter 05: End**

**The End of the Chapter Stuff: **Well, what did you think? After doing this chapter, I'm not certain how long I shall follow the manga, even if it was what I was kind of planning. After the Kyoto bit, you should start noticing the changes of introducing a new character into the world… kind of like a butterfly effect, to a point. I'm trying to craft a great story… but I don't think it's going well.

Anyway, this chapter I listened to a lot of Daft Punk. (Robot Rock anyone?) So now, with this chapter done, I shall dawdle around until the 14th comes… and the 21st with Fable II… and the 28th with Fallout 3. All this madness ends on the 7th of November when Gears of War 2 releases.

**Thanks for Helping: Midnight Sleeper and The Ansem Man:** For proofreading.

**Thank You For Reading!**


	6. Bad Trip: Part Two

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Negima in any way, shape, or form. It belongs to Ken Akumatsu. I only own Reina Whitehall and the Ivory Knight.

**Author's Notes: **Well, my move is done and the game rush is over. But unfortunately, my 360 decided to become illiterate. So now it no longer reads disks… Damn.

Also, this chapter is the shortest so far. But I wasn't going to drag things out unnecessarily. And it also stands as my least favorite. I apologize for its low quality.

**Negima: Femella Intra Machina**

**By Dark Dragon Dave**

**Chapter 06: Bad Trip: Part Two**

_Thwomp!_

"Ow!" Makie Sasaki trips over something as she is leaving the room in the morning. She soon discovers she has landed on someone and, as she lifts her head off their chest, they are looking down at her. "Reina-san?"

"Ah… a- aah… Wha… Ahhh…" Reina stumbles about to form words. Never before has a girl buried their face in her chest, even accidentally. And it will be the last time if she can prevent it from ever happening again.

Makie stands up with her face a slight red and straightens her clothes out. This gives Reina an ample chance to back away, slightly bumping her head when she hits a wall.

"What were you doing in the hallway?" the gymnast asks. "We have plenty of room in there for you to sleep in." Makie's voice is as chipper as ever.

It's too early in the morning for her to come up with a proper excuse. "W- Well you… you see… I wa- as… Me?! Don't you e- ever look where you are g… oing?!" she asks kind of angrily, trying to shift the focus.

"Well I do, but I didn't expect you to be right next to the door. And it's awfully unsafe for you to sleep in the hallway."

"I- I was…"

Makie gives her a big smile. "It doesn't matter now anyway. Come on and get dressed. We're going to go get some breakfast!"

Before Reina can tell Makie that sounds like just an awful idea, Reina's stomach reminds her rather loudly, that she forgot to eat supper last night. Her face reddens from the loud noise it makes.

"See? A good breakfast is the foundation of a good day!" The pepper pink gives her a thumbs up.

"Wh- ere did you hear th- that one?"

"I don't remember exactly, but it holds true," the gymnast says with a chipper tone.

"She is just waaaay too happy for this time of day," Reina thinks.

She says, "Sounds g- good," hunger winning out over fear.

She heads into to the room, with Makie practically skipping while following her in. "I found her! She was asleep in the hallway." You couldn't hate the face she has.

"What were you doing out there, Reina-san?" Yuna asks, slightly put-off.

Reina avoids the question, her fear being abated by a small bit of anger. "I'm g- going to get dressed." She grabs her back pack and heads into back to the restroom.

* * *

The group leaves, heading to go get breakfast with everyone else. As they arrive on the first floor, Reina splits off from the group to head to the front desk.

"Where are you going, Reina-san?" Yuna asks the white haired girl.

Reina thinks for a second before answering. "I just… got s- something to check on."

"Oooh… Could it be that you are checking for a message from your boyfriend?"

"He's n- not my boy- friend! I- I just m- m- met him yesterday," protests Reina.

"… Denying it just makes it cuter all the more, you know," Yuna observes. "Tell you what, I'll come along and see if he left you something."

Reina asks herself, "What is it with people inviting themselves wherever I go?" Her face becomes a slight scowl.

"Let's go see if your boyfriend left you anything!" the black haired girl says as she begins to drag her classmate along by the hand.

"Ah! Hey!"

"Yes?"

"My hand…"

Yuna offers a smile. "Oh, come on. No time to complain when there is love in the air!"

"Ugh… L- Love?! Hey, wait!"

The duo, lead by Yuna, heads to the reception desk to see if there is in fact a message for the shy girl. The concierge is wrapped up in typing on the computer.

"Excuse me," Yuna says for her prisoner… er, friend. Friend is what I said.

"Just a minute," stalls the woman "…aaand done. I am sorry for the delay. What is it I can do for you?"

"My friend here may have gotten a message," Yuna tells her, giving a big eager point over to Reina.

"What is the name on that?"

"Whitehall," Reina says.

The woman at the desk searches around. Under papers, under the mouse pad… then she remembers. "What was the room number?"

"302," Yuna says before Reina can speak. Reina stands there with her mouth half open, looking like an idiot before closing it.

"Ah! Yes there does seem to be something for a Whi… te… hal... l," says the concierge, stumbling weakly through the name. "That would be you then?" She asks the timid white haired girl.

"Y- Yes I am."

She thinks to herself, "Must be easier for me to say because I've had it all my life."

"Okay. Here is your message then," the desk representative says while holding it out, "and on behalf of our lodge, thank you and have a nice day."

Reina takes it while trying to avoid sudden movements. "O- Okay. You… you too."

"Why couldn't you be one of those snooty guys?" Reina thinks to herself, concerning the woman at the front desk. "Then again… staying at one of those really ritzy snoot joints probably is beyond even Mahora's budget…"

Yuna raises an eyebrow. "Reina-san? Hello?"

Reina speaks out while still halfway keeping to herself, "One of those places where you pay extra for the attitude. I've been to quite a few of those places."

"What the heck?" the other girl asks.

Suddenly, the shy girl catches what it is she just did. Slowly, her face becomes a crimson shade. "I w- w- as thinking to myself," she explains. The pilot wants to die, right now. How embarrassing!

"Well?! What does the message say?" Yuna asks the one half of a new couple, or so she thinks.

Reina is entirely uncomfortable with how deep Yuna is trying to dig. But protesting would mean having to talk to her which is simply out of the question. "Umm… I would… like a l- little privacy, p- please."

"Oh ho!!!" Yuna beams brightly. "So it's one of those kinds of letters."

"You're r- reading too much into it," Reina tells her. "I've only just m- met the guy."

"I suppose you're right. Come on, we can discuss this during breakfast." Yuna once again latches on to Reina's wrist and pulls her along.

Reina does a brief check and realizes she doesn't have a knife with which to cut her arm off.

* * *

After breakfast, while some of the class is fighting over Negi like two bums in an alley fighting over an unopened bottle of whiskey, Reina finally opens her letter.

"If he's creepy, I walk away," Reina thinks to herself. "If he's a jerk… I use my phone and call The Ivory Knight."

She unfolds the letter and begins to read.

_Reina,_

_I have a nice place picked out for a lunch that has a park nearby. I'll be there at the park today at 11:30._

_F—_

There is a hand drawn map with it that has Reina's ideo locator and how to get to the park.

"A park and lunch…" Reina thinks. "That sounds completely normal. It might be kinda fun too. It would definitely have to be more fun than this group. Then again, if I wasn't so afraid… Well, today is some sort of group activity day or something, so I wonder if I can wander off..."

As if to ruin her thoughts, Nitta decides to interrupt the girl, bringing with him a reprimand. "Good morning, Whitehall-san." His voice was as gloom and doom as ever. "I was informed that you slept in the hallway last night."

"Urp…" the white haired girl offers.

"I am also aware, like many of the teachers on this trip, of your fear. Still, I don't like the image that a student sleeping in the hallway makes for Mahora, so don't let me catch you doing that again."

Nitta is a very scary man. Not how Reina fears females, heavens no. This, this is something different. "Okay. I won't do it again."

"Good." And with that simple yet commanding one word, Nitta both walked off and scared the crap out of the white haired girl.

Yuna, Makie, Ako, Mana, and Akira swarm over to the final member of the group. Reina puts away the message she received to try and keep them out of her business.

"Well, Honya-chan made her move on Negi, so he's busy today…" Yuna says and then asks, "So what are we going to do today? We could go see what kind of shopping they have here, I suppose."

"A- Actually, I was go- ing to go and meet that boy today." She holds her hands over her mouth when she realizes the can of worms she's opened.

Yuna and Makie both get a wry smile.

"Oh ho!" Yuna exclaims. "The first date! Heh heh heh…" She turns to the others and signals for the huddle. "Are you guys pondering what I'm pondering?"

"Um… We buy them gifts for the wedding?" Makie asks.

Yuna replies, as if she was channeling Orson Welles from the beyond, "No, we follow them and make sure this guy has only the best intentions!"

"Are you sure you just don't want to check out their date?" Akira asks, her face showing signs of frustration. "Either way, it sounds like a major invasion of their privacy."

"Hey, this is group activity day, isn't it?" counters Yuna. "Let's put it to a vote."

"I say we go!" Makie blurts unabashedly.

Mana simply stands up again. "None of this is my business. If you are going to do that, I say we simply let each individual do what they want. That way I can wash my hands of this idea."

"Okay," says Yuna as the rest of the group stands up, "and that'll give us an extra day of free time."

"Looks like you'll have to catch up," Akira says as she points to where Reina was. "You three go ahead and have fun. I don't need a giant robot bearing down on me because I couldn't keep my nose out of its business."

Makie, Yuna, and Ako quickly shuffle past some other groups that are also leaving after being defeated by Nodoka's bravery. Once outside, they spot her walking along, apparently looking at a piece of paper. They immediately go into super secret tailing stealth mode.

"You don't think Reina-san would actually sic her robot on us… do you?" Makie asks.

"No, and it's not a separate entity. It is her and she is it. Where were you when this was going on?" Yuna asks her pink haired gymnast friend.

Makie thinks about this while keeping pace with the other two. "I don't think I was paying attention… was that during the… Wait… No. Never mind. I got nothing." A smile obtainable only by the blissfully unaware slides its way across her face.

Reina stops which make the trio dash behind a nearby parapet with a flowering bush in it. The white haired girl looks at the map and baffles for a moment, making several odd faces and rotating the paper in several different directions, most of which apparently had unsatisfactory results. She briefly says something about radar and global positioning systems. Eventually she works out where she needs to go and the three others follow behind like a triple shadow.

They follow her up to the entrance of a park, leaning up against the entrance and peering in like some kind of special operatives. The three of them watch as Reina straightens out her skirt and sits on a bench to wait for what they think is her boyfriend. She takes her phone out of her pocket and presses a few buttons.

"That was quick," whispers Yuna urgently.

"What?" asks Ako and Makie.

Yuna sighs, "Don't you guys remember? She can use her phone to summon that robot. She's not even giving him a chance!"

"Maybe she's putting it on standby?" Ako offers.

A man in a brown coat walks by Reina and happens to look at her phone screen. He watches her place a block shaped like a capital L in a spot with a few other brightly colored blocks. He quickly disregards this, the girl, and the Russian folk song her phone was playing lightly.

"We need to make sure things go smoothly for our new friend," Yuna tells the other two. "The last thing she needs is to get hooked up with some freak that ignores her and treats her like dirt."

They nod an agreement.

It's not long before a white haired boy about Negi's age walks up to the white haired girl. They exchange greetings and Reina shuts her mobile and stands up. One thing that is instantly obvious is there is quite a difference in their heights.

Listening closely, the three spies can hear the conversation.

"I didn't notice last night but, you're kind of young, aren't you?" Reina asks.

The boy looks at her and says, "I'm just short for my age."

Reina looks shocked. "Oh, oh my! I'm sorry!" She gives her date a deep bow. "I didn't mean to sound so insensitive."

"I get it all the time. Don't worry."

One of the first things Reina notices, other than how much taller she is than him, is that his tone of voice never changes.

"So you never have said what you are doing here. All you've mentioned is that you are on business. You'll forgive me if that sounds suspicious."

"I'm here with a few others. I'm getting paid to contribute to a project. After that I'm freed up again."

"I know where you are coming from. I'm often asked to assist my father with testing, but… you know, he's my dad."

"It's nice to see you have a happy relationship with your father. I will admit I have a slight interest in the world of robotics and know Kaminari Grand Industrial a bit. You could call me a bit of a follower."

A hint of red shows itself on her face. "So… um…"

"Come for a walk," Fate says, "we have the entire afternoon to talk."

They both step and begin walking deeper into the park, past the flowers and sunbeams coming down from the shade of the trees.

The trio of Yuna, Makie, and Ako duck and run to the nearest tree and bush, giving each room to hid from their classmate and the boy. As they rush past, they garner several strange looks from observers.

Reina and Fate continue to talk while they walk.

"So, are you…" Reina half asks.

"Yes?"

"Well, I'm trying to figure out how to phrase it. I guess… Do you work for a company your parents own or something?"

Fate looks at her in a manner that is kind of unsettling. "No. I work for myself."

"I couldn't imagine what it's like to own your own company."

"It's not all that hard, working for yourself."

Back behind a random tree, Yuna makes a declaration. "You guys!"

"What?"

"We've got to get those two together. And I mean in a permanent way."

"Hold up a sec!" Ako protests. "Marriage? Why?"

"Think about it. She's got money, and he owns his own company, so he's gotta have money as well. Their kids would grow up having every wish their hearts desired granted. I only wish I was so lucky."

"But I thought you loved your dad?" Makie asks.

"I do. Very much. And that has nothing to do with it."

"I'd like to say," Ako adds, "just because he has his own business, doesn't mean he has money."

"Ah! I see what you are saying," the group's leader says. "So he could be trying to use her. What a jerk!"

"Why don't we wait and see how he treats her, rather than jumping to conclusions?" asks the nurse.

Yuna nods. "Right."

"We need to move," Makie states and points out that Reina and the boy are moving farther away. This makes the three 'roadie run' again to another shady near a tree and behind a groundskeeper's shed.

"So why don't you tell me a about yourself?" Fate asks.

"Uh… well. Where do I start?"

"You like any kind of music, maybe books or television shows?"

"I love science fiction." Fate makes no comment, positive or negative, towards this. "I've read _Dune, _the _Foundation_ series by Asimov,_ I, Robot _and_ Nemesis _by Asimov as well, and the complete _Hitchhiker's Guide _series by Douglas Adams. I've never been able to get into the light novel stuff. I like my sci-fi weighty, or at least firmly serious in humor. There's very little domestic wise that I've gotten into after the Wintery Age."

"It seems you know your stuff and are an Asimov fan as well."

Reina feels uncomfortable talking about herself. "How about you? What do you like?"

"I don't like talking about myself," the boy answers simply. "I prefer to listen."

"…Oh. How about this project you are with? Can you talk about that?"

"No."

Damn, dead end there too. "Well, I feel uncomfortable just talking about myself."

"There's not much to talk about with me."

"You said you were in business for yourself, what does your business do?"

"I'm more of a handyman. I do stuff that needs to be done."

"That seals it," Makie says. "He's a dead beat."

"Yep," agrees Yuna.

"I still say," Ako mentions, "we wait and see how he treats her. We need to stop jumping to conclusions. Just because he's a dead beat doesn't me he wouldn't make her happy."

The other two nod in agreement and begin to move again as the white haired couple begin moving further away.

As they duck behind a car parked near the exit, Yuna comes to an observation. "I've noticed something."

"What's that?" asks Makie.

"She hasn't been stuttering."

Makie thinks about this. "Really?"

Yuna's expression changes to one of defeat. "Have you completely checked out?"

"Of course I haven't. I'm still at the hotel!" Makie says with a grin.

Ako simply buries her face in her hands and shakes her head.

"Well, she's done nothing but stutter every time she's spoke… at least as much as I can remember. Yet here she, talking like it's no big deal, to some boy she just met yesterday. I wonder…"

"You don't think," asks Ako, "that she could be… afraid of girls… do you?"

Yuna thinks about this for a bit, and comes up with, "Is something like that even possible?"

The other two simply shrug at her. Both answer with an "I don't know."

"I suppose it's a possibility. Then there could be more to our new friend than just a huge machine."

"Well, we've gotten through the park and it's not even lunch yet." Fate asks, "Perhaps there is something you'd like to do?"

"I don't know this place well enough to make any kinds of decisions. What do you do for fun?"

"I think there is an arcade around here. Want to check that out?"

"Sure, sounds like it could be fun. And I don't think that any of my classmates will be by there. There all too busy with… well it doesn't matter."

The two of them walk out past an archway, turning down a somewhat busy street, forcing the shady trio to skulk off while using what cover they can.

* * *

The arcade is quite a busy place as Fate and Reina enter. It's a veritable cornucopia of different people looking for a bit of distraction during the afternoon. Rings, pings, and dings sound from every corner as the people play. There are quite a few games available, causing Reina to look about dumbfounded.

Fate grabs Reina's hand and begins leading her to a game.

"Hey look. We're up to hand holding…" Makie singsongs.

Yuna grins, "How cute."

Fate leads Reina to a darker spot in the back that has two larger cabinets facing one another. They both say the same thing in the side. "Mech Simulator 3! Arcade Mix!!!"

Reina looks down, slightly confused, to Fate and asks, "…You're kidding right?"

Fate gives her that dead serious look. "What's the matter? It's just some harmless fun, right?"

"Okay…" the actual mech pilot agrees with a bit of defeat in her voice. "But don't say I didn't warn you."

Fate pays the machine and they both open their respective cockpits.

"Oh no way!" Reina exclaims as she looks inside. "They did!"

Fate just looks at her.

"They made an exact replica of the _201_ _Freelance Breaker_ cabin. That thing was an industry standard back when companies would loan out parts of their designs to other companies. My father's company bought them out a few years later when they started struggling… I even think we may still have one around," the now happy girl explains, falling deep into a fan coma.

"A mass produced unit?"

"No. But certain companies make extras in case their main units break or something. Well, let's get this thing going." She climbs in and closes the hatch with enthusiasm.

Fate does the same and begins selecting which machine he'll be using. A little window in the lower right shows him Reina's already selected and waiting. "Decisive…" he comments to himself. He looks through the various mechs and chooses one based on armaments.

Another window opens, asking to choose an area. There's the desert, the flooded industrial park, the nuclear power facility, the military base, and the Las Vegas style area affectionately called "House Always Wins." They're promising more arenas when the home version releases, not that Fate cares.

Fate asks, "Where would you like to go?"

"It doesn't really matter to me," Reina answers. "I'm good with anywhere."

Fate happens to choose the desert arena, with the game switching to combat mode shortly after. Both units drop down onto the sands and move forward, heading to the other.

"What I wouldn't give for some thrusters," Reina complains as she sprints forward. Her mech is quite fast, practically a red streak, as she can soon see Fate's machine on the horizon.

Fate raises a missile launcher at Reina's machine, and watches the targeting reticule shift around. It turns red and beeps at him in a friendly manner that practically assures him there will be a blanket and cookies for him should he lose despite wielding tremendous firepower.

With a _swoosh_ and a smoke trail, the missile rapidly closes in on Reina forcing her to dodge. It explodes behind her (a feature of the missile that keeps the attack from being worthless) anyway. The splash damage makes several alarms go off in Reina's cabin. Without much of a note about the sirens and alarms, she levels a rifle at him and shoots at his machine's head, three repeating bursts fire strike his face, scrambling his view. She rushes in and swings around behind him as he stumbles back.

A sword through the torso later and the fight is over.

"Impressive… All of her attacks are speed based it seems. She's quite fast when it comes to this."

"Oh! It seems there is another round!" Reina says happily. "I get to kick your butt, not once but twice it seems!" Fate can hear her laugh excitedly at the thought.

"Please select your arena," says the recorded woman over the speakers, demanding that he does so. He selects the desert arena again and they head into battle.

"Reina!"

"Yes?"

"This time, hold nothing back. I want to see exactly what you can do. Don't take it easy on me and I want to see how fast you can move."

"Uhh… Okay… I'll go all out," Reina says and then adds, "You know Fate-san, you are a weird date."

"Likely," answers the boy like he brushing the fact off to the side.

And with that, Reina runs towards Fate's machine, pouring on every last bit of speed the virtual mech can offer. Fate steps to the side while once again raising the missile launcher. However, Reina is already upon him when the thing locks. And by that time, several sword strikes drop him.

"I wouldn't read too much into it," Reina tells her date with a kind of apologetic tone. "There are a number of fallacies in the game here. I wouldn't use it as any measure of skill."

With the end of the game, comes the opening of the hatches. Reina and Fate climb out and the boy offers his hand to his date and opponent. Reina looks confused and then accepts the oddly offered shake.

"You were an honorable opponent Fate-san."

"Good. What next?"

"I thought you had planned this date. Are you telling me you don't know what to do next?"

"There." Fate points over to another cabinet.

"GuitarFreaks? I've never really played guitar."

"If you don't want to…"

Reina shakes her head. "Nah. It might prove fun!"

Fate once again pays the machine and they both pick up their axes. Fate slides through several menus, and selects three songs to play. Reina misses the first few notes… then the ones after that… then kind of scratches through the next part… Teeters around for a bit and flomps over face first across the finish.

"Uugh…" Reina comments when she sees her score. A peek at Fate's score shatters her hopes of winning. "98 percent? Wow!"

"Simple button pressing. Playing an actual guitar is harder."

"Can you play?"

"No."

"Oh." In some small way, Reina is a bit let down.

Second verse, same as the first… at least when it comes to the next two games, as Reina's scores are terrible and awful, and Fate's are near perfect.

Reina looks down at him and mutters sheepishly, "You're… supposed to let the girl win when you're on a date, you know?"

As if he never thought of that, Fate just states, "Really? Huh." Seemingly dispassionate about the idea, he slings the axe back from whence it came.

Reina follows suit with a strange look on her face. Something about Fate doesn't settle well with her. It's like he's socially awkward. Then again, she realizes it's like the pot calling the kettle black. But still, he's very weird. Ah well, he's paying and probably very nervous.

"It's now lunch time. Come." Fate says. Reina can't tell if he's ordering her or reminding or what.

"He's getting weird… Well weirder," thinks the girl. She doesn't mention it, dismissing it as simply one of his quirks.

They both leave, making the trio of followers, who are now dressed as a few local thugs, travel a short distance behind them. Fate suddenly stops and turns to look back at the disguised trio.

The three of them quickly face away and Yuna yells at some random man standing around not doing anything, mostly to play up the thug look. The random man looks confused as he hasn't done anything… at least not that he can think of. With a slightly bewildered look, the man walks away pondering all the slights he's made within the last week.

The blue eyed boy continues staring at the thugs anyway, and how the yelling one seems to have a much more ample chest than your typical thug.

"Fate-san?"

He turns back swiftly upon hearing Reina ask for him. "It's nothing. Do you like Italian?"

"Um… Sausage? Leather?" Reina asks as those were the only two things to cross her mind.

"Food."

"Ahh… Yeah, I don't mind it."

"That's good. I made reservations for a place downtown." Fate offers his hand again.

Taking the hand, Reina complains, "Oh… That might be a bit too fancy for the way I'm dressed though."

Without a word otherwise Fate drags Reina along gently.

Thugs Yuna, Ako, and Makie look back to make sure the white haired boy isn't looking at them. When they turn around, they let out a collective sigh.

Yuna adjusts the hat she's wearing and begins tailing again now that the couple is up ahead by a fair distance. "I feel a little bad for the guy we yelled at."

"He's a male, he'll get over it," Makie says.

"Anyway, we have a couple to follow. Let's move!" Yuna commands.

The three trundle along, passing all kinds of people in their pursuit.

* * *

Reina and Fate sit at a small two person table in a small, well appointed restaurant. They've already ordered and are now waiting. The two of them make the usual first date small talk, passing minor things back and forth. Actually, it was more like Reina asking and Fate being vague.

Slightly by surprise, Fate stands up.

"Uhh?" Reina thinks for a minute she may have been to chatty.

"I need to use the restroom." Fate turns around abruptly and walks off towards the restroom door… which, coincidentally, is right next to the door to the kitchen.

Gross thought, isn't it?

Reina sits alone at the table, thinking about the boy who just got up and left.

"He is an odd one alright," she thinks to herself. "Must be the strong silent type because he certainly doesn't speak much. Could be nerves too. I don't really have any problems around boys, but then again, girls freak me out, so I know where he's coming from. I must be scaring him…"

A waitress slides up and delivers their drinks. Reina had a ramune, Fate had coffee. Mumbling to herself, Reina says, "Well, suppose that explains why he's a lot shorter than me."

About a minute later, Fate comes back… right ahead of their plates. He sits down and unwraps his silverware, using the napkin to wipe his hands. "Those dryers never dry."

Reina smiles. "You too, huh?"

Fate says nothing about it.

The next waitress drops off their plates and asks if there is anything else they need. Fate asks for a new napkin as his was… filthy. The waitress takes the tray away only to come back with a small stack of fresh napkins. Fate sees the irony in this immediately and sighs.

They finish their meals, minestrone with ciabatta bread for Fate, tomato and mushroom focaccia for Reina. Fate leaves a generous tip before they leave.

Three more "patrons" leave when they do. They are, of course; Yuna, Makie, and Ako.

"It seems he does have money after all," Yuna observes as the trio continue to tail them.

After five minutes of following them back to the hotel, Reina begins to stumble around. Spin, spin, spin, goes the world as the ground opens up underneath her. As the screen fades to black before the credits roll, she can make out Fate's arms catching her.

Her three class mates see this and Fate carrying her into a back alley. Without thinking about it, Yuna, Makie, and Ako go running up to where the alley was, shouting at her date.

"HEY! LET HER GO!" they shout as they rush towards the white haired boy.

Fate hauls Reina's limp body into an alley with ease, belying his small frame. He places her carefully near the wall of one of the buildings, making sure to be careful with her head. He quickly waves his arm around in a wide arc, making the alley look abandoned. He steps over to where he left Reina and leans up against the wall.

The three girls round the corner to find that no one is there. They quickly fan out and begin searching the shady alley. They look in the dumpster, around a small nook in part of the alley, and even upwards along the rooftops.

"This isn't good! We lost our new classmate… She could be getting assaulted… We could be expelled… And worst off, Negi could end up hating us for probably getting him fired," Makie cries.

Ako turns to Yuna, slightly panicked. "What are we going to do? This is really bad."

"I- I don't know! How do we explain what happened? Huh?" asks Yuna. "How do we tell everyone we lost a group member?"

"We're going to have to be honest and tell him the truth. Lying about it won't help any," Ako tells her.

Yuna stumbles back after realizing they were likely all going to be in a hell of a lot of trouble. "We should go tell Negi-sensei."

"But who knows where he is?" Makie asks from a slowly forming film of tears.

"Wait… Who else was going with him?" asks Ako.

Thinking back, Yuna remembers. "I have Konoka's phone number and she went with him! Lemme give her a call." Swiftly, Yuna takes out her phone and begins searching for Konaka's number. After a few presses, it starts ringing.

* * *

Negi and the rest are on their way to one of the attractions when Konoka's phone rings. She takes it from her pocket without giving it much thought and answers cheerfully, "Helloooo?"

"Konoka! I really need to talk to Negi-sensei! This is really bad!" Yuna tells her without saying hello or being polite.

"Umm… Okay…" Konoka turns to the small teacher. "Negi-kun, Yuna-san wants to speak with you and it sounds kinda important."

"Oh dear. What have they gotten into now?" Negi asks as he takes the phone from his roommate. "Hello Yuna-san, what is the matter?"

"_Negi-sensei! We have a major problem," _says Yuna's strained voice from the other end.

"Okay. First off please calm down. What is the problem?" Chamo leans into the earpiece to get an earful.

"Umm… Well… We sort of… We… Lost Reina."

"You what? How did you do that? Today was supposed to be a group activity day."

Yuna feels the slight sting the words carry with them, or at least she feels they carry with them. "I'm really, truly sorry Negi-sensei. We'd had decided as a group to have an individual activity day instead. And Reina had a date with some boy she met last night, and apparently he must have drugged her."

"This isn't good Aniki," Chamo whispers.

Negi's face contorts to a mix of confusion and fear. "How do you know what happened to her?"

"We were tailing her and the boy during the date," Yuna explains. "As they were leaving from a restaurant she began to wobble as she walked and the boy carried her into an alley. We… We ran after them, but when we got around the corner there was nothing. "

"Auww… What are going to do?" Negi whispers in panic to Chamo.

Being just as suspicious, Chamo shushes back. "This is bad! I'm sure I've heard of teachers getting fired or being forced to resign for losing students. You'll need to find her Aniki!"

Negi nods. "Listen, where are you?"

"We're five blocks south of Little Venice."

"Yeah… that helps," the Welsh teacher thinks to himself. "Hey, does anyone know how to get to 'Little Venice' from here? It's a major emergency." He's obviously beginning to panic.

"I do," Konoka answers. "I went there a lot when I was a kid. What's going on?"

"We've got a lost student. And she may have been kidnapped." The others around him are shocked. "Apparently, Reina was taken."

Asuna looks confused. "How did anyone kidnap her? She looks like she can handle herself? More to the point—"

"It sounds like she was drugged." Negi answers then goes back to the phone. "Listen! Don't move! I'll be there shortly!" Yuna and the others agree to stay put. With that, Negi closes the phone and gives it back. "I have to leave. One of my students is in danger! I'll have to reschedule for later. Come on Konoka, I have to know where 'Little Venice' is."

"Coming."

Without an argument, Asuna includes herself. "I'm going too."

"If Ojou-sama goes, so do I." Setsuna declares.

* * *

With the helpful guidance of Konoka, the four of them travel quite a distance to the Italian restaurant in question, then the extra five blocks south of there. The trip was shortened when they happened upon a taxi which they more than readily used. The foursome dashes down the street and purely by luck find the alley where the other three are.

They find Yuna, Ako, and Makie passed out, collapsed around randomly like garbage strewn about.

"What the hell?" asks Asuna.

Negi drops his staff and runs to Ako as she's the closest. "Ako-san! Are you okay?!" he asks as he lifts her head and cradles it gently. "Check on the others!" he orders the rest. As Negi holds Ako's head, she begins to stir, moaning lightly as she wakes up. "Ako? Ako?! Are you okay?"

Once her eyes refocus, she sees Negi looking into her eyes. This causes her face to turn a brighter red color. "Ne-Negi-sensei! What's happening?"

"We found you passed out here in the alley with Yuna and Makie. What happened?"

"I was waiting with the others and I suddenly began to feel really tired." She's still red from the fact that the young teacher is still supporting her. "And then I woke up like this."

"I'm glad you and the others are safe."

"But Reina-san is still…"

"I know. I've got to— No! I _will_ find her!" He stands up, being careful not to drop her head on the cement. He offers the girl a hand up and she takes it.

The other two passed out girls have woken and are standing up.

"Did you two start to feel sleepy too?" Both confirm that this is indeed true. Already knowing the answer, Negi asks, "Do you think that you'll be good to go back to the hotel?" They all nod positively. "Okay, we're going to see if we can find Reina. And if we can't we'll have to go to the police."

Asks Ako, "Are you sure you don't need our help?"

"I think we can handle it. You three get back and please, try to keep it a secret for now."

Again, they nod in agreement. After they leave, Negi and the rest discuss the situation.

"This has to be the work of the Kansai rogues," Negi states.

"But why would they attack Reina-san?" Setsuna asks.

"I can see several reasons why. She knows nothing about magic, she is new to the class so she's likely not as friendly with the others and wander off alone, her father is a very powerful man, and something like this would be highly publicized. So not only are they trying to stop the messenger, but they are attempting to ruin him. At the very least, they are magical."

"That's true," figures Setsuna. "Falling asleep at the same time is a dead giveaway."

Konoka interrupts. "How do we find her?"

"I think I know how," Asuna states from over near a door. "They left a note. How arrogant is that?"

"Are you sure it's for me?"

"It has your face drawn on it. Rather crudely I might add." She hands it over to him. Indeed there was his face on it.

Negi reads the message._ "I have Reina Whitehall. I'd like it if you stayed out of this as it doesn't involve you."_

"Well, he knows me. Otherwise he wouldn't have put that face on the message," the young teacher states. "But this brings up the whole 'why Reina' question again."

* * *

Fate lowers Reina down on a couch from carrying her on his back. They are in a sparsely appointed and dimly lit room, the only light coming from a lamp nearby. The door opens again and lets a woman through, the same woman who attempted to kidnap Konoka earlier.

"I've been tracking you. I would like to be told who that is and why you've brought her here. This is far outside mission parameters. Remember that Konoka is the target."

"Chigusa, this is none of your business," Fate tells her off.

"While you work for me it is."

Fate goes over to a toolbox sitting on a bookshelf and opens it up. Inside was the strange device the "The Artificer" gave him the previous night. He takes it out, holding it by the actual body.

"What is that?"

"Again, it's none of your business. This is an old bit of business I want to finish."

"Old business?" Chigusa asks herself quietly.

Fate unwraps the cords and goes back to the couch he dumped Reina on. Climbs on top of her and straddles her hips.

"Hey, do you mind?" Chigusa turns a revolted face from the two. With her glance adverted, she looks down on the floor. "Why is that there?"

"As I said, this is none of your business. But could you help me stick this into her?"

"Hell no!" she answers without looking. "I'm leaving. Just keep your mind on the mission."

As she leaves, Fate lifts Reina's head. "This is a lot easier with another pair of hands." He slowly inserts one tab in each of the plugs behind Reina's ears.

Once plugged in, he tells her "My cat has a red collar with diamonds and a small golden bell."

Reina's eyes open slowly as she begins to wake up. "Uuungnn… Fate-sama? How long was I out?

"Quite a while."

"Man... I don't feel well. There's a heaviness in my chest." Reina sits up on the couch.

"You are not in your own body. Take a look down."

Reina does as Fate suggests and shrieks. "What the hell?! Good lord, when did I get these… things?! They're freakin' huge!" She gives her breasts a couple of squeezes and follows them with another shriek. "They're attached to me! Fate-sama, what the hell happened to me? I was petite, and small, and waif-like!"

"I have a story to tell you," says the boy to the girl in Reina's body.

* * *

Time passes and Fate tells his story to the confused girl.

"So that's what happened."

"And this body is…"

"Yes. Consider it a kind of revenge if you want."

Reina looks at Fate, concern obvious on her face. "And… the pactio?"

"It's been cancelled."

"C- Can we… Do another one?"

Fate hold his hands out. "I have a temporary contract circle here already. It is temporary incase it doesn't work. Come on." The circle fires up as they lean into each other.

As they approach, the door crashes open. Negi immediately recognizes what is going on rushes to the two. Fate plants his lips on Reina's. Negi breaks it up… by tripping over a bit of detritus on the floor. As he falls, he reaches out and accidentally snags the box attached to the back of Reina's head. This pulls her away from Fate, just in time for the card to form.

"What do you think you're doing?!" Fate asks as the red headed boy falls.

Speaking of, as Negi falls down, the box disconnects from Reina's head. It flies in a most impressive arc to the floor, coming to a stop near Fate's feet. Negi hits the floor, with Reina coming to a stop on top of him. Once again their lips meet, making Negi blush. And just like last time, it seems the mech pilot is out of it.

Strangely, the pactio circle kicks up again, the brilliant light flooding the room. Chamo stands near the circle and tries to figure out why it would activate a second time. From his experience, they should only work once. Then he realizes the money he can make off this so he sets the study off to the side for the time being.

Another card forms from the light, coalescing from nothingness. Chamo jumps up and grabs the card as the design finalizes, chuckling as he does so. "It's a good thing that tracking spell worked."

Fate picks up the small box, letting the wires dangle from his hand. "I'm sorry…" After a quick glance at Negi's group he liquefies and seems to evaporate into nothingness.

"Negi-sensei? Are you okay?" Setsuna asks as her and Asuna pick Reina off of him and put her on the couch. Konoka offers him a hand up which he accepts.

"I'm fine. I'm worried about Reina though. What did he do to her? Auuughh! How am I going to explain magic to her?!" And like flipping a switch, Negi goes into panic mode.

"Calm down, Negi-kun. Treat it like you did any one of us," Konoka tells him. "She's no different than Asuna, for example."

"But I have a pactio with her! And when I explain how it happened—"

Asuna tells him, "We'll be there to help you explain what happened. I'm sure she'll be cool with it."

"But she really had no reason to ever find out about magic."

Asuna clomps him on the head lightly. "The only other thing you could do is keep this from her and deception isn't going to help any. Face it. She'll have to find out now."

"Hey," Chamo calls out. "Check this out." He's pointing at the card.

It has Reina's image on it, her name in Latin, and so on, but the card has a metal sheen to it.

"So what do you think that is all about anyway?" Asuna asks.

"Well, I think I figured out the circle," Chamo say. "Take a look."

The group looks down and the circle is still there, ready to make another pactio.

"Well, what the heck?" asks Asuna as she lifts her feet, as she's standing on one of the lines.

"It looks like he drew it with a permanent marker. Oh, and these symbols over here are different."

Reina begins to moan and tumble about on the couch. Her rolling leads to her falling off the couch with a loud thud. "Ow… I gotta be more careful."

"Reina, are you okay?" The young teacher asks as he kneels down beside her.

"Negi-sensei? What? What's going on? I was leaving that restaurant with… Where am I?"

"It looks like he drugged you."

"He what? Oh God… Wha… What if he… I don't even want to think about it." She stands up and stumbles instantly.

Negi and Setsuna grab her. "Easy there. It doesn't look like all the drugs are out of your system yet," suggests the swordsgirl.

"I'm sorry guys. I never thought about something like that. I'm so stupid…" Her weepiness is clearly drug induced.

They sit her back on the couch and explain everything they know happened from the moment Negi got the call, but not anything about the pactio, er… pactios. They are calm and collected, going over every detail that they think she should know. Once they get to the pactio bit they… are careful.

"And? What happened when you got here?" the confused mech pilot asks.

"Eh… Well… You see…" The teacher grasps at straws.

Konoka assists. "You know how in fairy tales there is magic and wizards and such?"

"Umm… Y- Yeah?" Now that the drugs are wearing off, her fear is reasserting itself.

"Well, what if I were to tell you that magic was real?" Konoka asks her.

With a sigh, Reina asks, "I f- ail to see how th-this is related to anything that's hap-pening."

"Well, Reina-san," Setsuna answers, "Magic is real."

"Th- those must have b- een some good d- dru drugs."

Negi bucks up with a deep breath. "We're serious. In fact, I'm a wizard."

"You're l- ying, r- right?"

Negi shakes his head. "I wish I were… Here, let me show you." Negi draws a practice wand and makes a magical flame. "See, I'm telling the truth."

Reina looks at the tiny flame. "And a- all of you can… can do this?"

**Negima: Femella Intra Machina Chapter 06: End**

**The End of the Chapter Stuff: **Well, did this chapter suck as much as I thought it did? As I've said time and time again, I'm no good with romance and dates and things. Outside of that, it does look like things are beginning to change storywise, especially now that magic has been revealed to Reina.

And what was with that double pactio? And who was that girl in her body? Well you'll just have to keep reading to find out.

**An Extra Special Thanks Goes To: Je-kun **for being an awesome assistant for this chapter.

**Thanks Also Go To: Midnight Sleeper **for proofreading.

**Thanks for Reading! Really!**


	7. Bad Trip: Part Three

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Negima or any of its related characters or trademarks. I am also not profiting off of this. I only own Reina Whitehall, The Ivory Knight, Hisao, and Corentin Catherine-Verliane.

Nuka-Cola and the S.P.E.C.I.A.L. system are property of Bethesda Game Studios and 2K Games.

**Author's Notes:** I replaced my 360 so now I can play again, though life is keeping me from gaming as much as I'd like.

This chapter introduces a fundamental change to the basic Negima storyline. I did this to introduce something to prevent this fic from being a boring rewrite the whole way through. Also, during the production of this chapter, I had a stroke of inspiration and I saw the end of this story in crystal clarity. So that is one reason this took two months to complete. Yes, the final chapter is written!

**Negima: Femella Intra Machina**

**By Dark Dragon Dave**

**Bad Trip: Part 3**

"Seeeeee-chaaan!" Konoka said playfully.

The two of them were in the bath of the hotel that morning. And they were alone. After last night's events, the gentle brunette knew there was something going on around her.

Setsuna knew something bad was about to happen. She could feel it. "What do you need Ojou-sama?"

Konoka leaned into Setsuna, "What was going on? Last night with all the monkeys. Asuna, Negi, and you all seem to be in on it too. Is there some kind of secret going on behind my back?"

Setsuna wouldn't let her resolve weaken. Under no circumstances would she… Wait. Was her Ojou-sama giving her… "The Puppy Dog Eyes?"

It's not written in any book, nor is it very official, but it's highly known the dreaded "Puppy Dog Eyes" are the most devastating weapon known to humanity. And when wielded by the likes of someone as sweet as Konoka, they are truly a force to be reckoned with. Setsuna didn't stand a chance.

"I- I can't say."

"Come on Seechan... For me."

Setsuna agonized to herself. _"The pressure! I. Can't. Take. It."_

"You see… Well… How do I start? You know how—"

And with that, Setsuna began to explain everything to her torturer. Later on, she explained to Negi and Asuna _roughly_ what had happened and swiftly apologized to the boy. There was no way she could admit having been defeated by a look from Konoka.

* * *

Many hours later, in a sparsely decorated room, the quartet of Negi, Asuna, Konoka, and Setsuna, consult a highly confused Reina on being introduced to the world of magic.

Reina looks at the tiny flame. "And a- all of you can… can do this?"

"No. Just Negi can," Asuna tells her.

"S- So much for what-t I kn-n-now."

"Listen Reina-san," says Negi, "there's more. You see, when we got here, he was forming a… Pactio with you."

"What's a p- p- pacty thing?"

Negi stood there silent for a moment before Chamo spoke up. "It's a magical partnership kid. They're formed so a mage can have assistance in battle from their partner."

Reina hold her head and shakes it. "Now I'm he-aring things."

Chamo steps forward, leaping down off of Negi. "That was me."

"I get it now… I'm still passed out and Fate's having his way with me. I'll wake up and need months of therapy." Chamo hops up on her and bites her gently on a finger. "OW! What was that for?"

"You're not dreaming girl. And the fact that you felt that bite kinda proves it. Sorry about that by the way. Tiny fingers. Can't pinch well."

So, y- you real-ly talk!"

"Yep."

"O- okay. I think it'd ju-st be easier to s- sit back and let you all explain everything. It seems like the easiest course of action."

"Now about this pactio…" Chamo explains, "You see, to form one you need to kiss the mage in question. I'm betting you don't remember that." Reina shakes her head. "Well, when a pactio is formed, the partners get a card." Chamo holds up the one made with Negi. Its weird finish catches the light.

"So… this is the pactio that happened with Fate?" She holds it, looking at the details.

With a hesitant chuckle, Chamo answers her question. "…Not exactly. You see, as we were coming in, the pactio was finishing. Negi here dashed in trying to stop it and tripped. When he did, he tipped you over and you ended up kissing him. Somehow, the pactio circle here on the floor activated again and you pactioed with Negi. I've heard that usually you can only pactio with one mage. I'd go into the reasons why it happened again, but I don't think it matters at this point."

Chamo holds out a second card, this one has her picture, with a shovel, on it, but didn't bear her name. Instead, it bears the name "Vespillo Ricuso" where as the other one has hers.

Reina holds her fingers to her lips. "A- And I don't… remember a thing." Her words are quiet little reflective things.

"That wasn't the first time you've kissed Negi-kun either," Konoka blurts. The others look at her, Negi especially giving her a look like she had sent him to a sad death sentence. As a response, Konoka covers her mouth. "Oops… Was I not supposed to mention that?"

"N- N- Not the fi- rst time for k- k- issing Negi-sensei? When did…"

Answering her question, Asuna replies, "When you fainted in class the first time. You fell on top of him."

Strangely, she says, "I'm sorry Negi-sensei."

"How so?" asks the boy. "It's not like you could help it. I just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time."

"Actually," comments Asuna, "it was because you were trying to save her both times."

Reina looks at her card. "A- A- Am I per- manently bound to N- Negi-sensei?"

"That's the good thing, no. These are entirely temporary." A thumbs up from Chamo assures the wary girl.

"And… w- what does th- this do?" The card Reina is holding is being shaken around by her. "Th- This doesn't b- become a silly ca- ard battle thing, does it?"

The ermine answers, "Not at all. In fact you can use it to communicate with Negi over long distances and when he activates the contract you get a boost across the board to all your S.P.E.C.I.A.L. stats. And also—"

Reina looks down and away. She closes her eyes and begins breathing slowly. Her arms are visibly shaking.

Something dawns on Negi. "Oh! Would you girls leave please? Just for a little bit?"

"I think we should stay here in case that boy comes back," Setsuna offers.

"I need to talk to her privately. Teacher to student."

"All right, but don't hesitate to yell if something happens," Asuna tells him and leaves with Konoka and Setsuna.

Once the door clicks, Reina curls up into a ball. "I messed up again. I'm sorry. If anything had happened, you could have been fired. I'm no good outside of Kaminari."

With support in his voice, Negi counters with, "Come on now. We all make mistakes."

"Yeah kid. You're being way too hard on yourself," Chamo tells her. "No one is perfect. So come on and smile. Girls are always prettier when they smile. It's like a law of the universe or something."

"Thanks…" she looks visibly happier. "Um… I don't know your name."

"Most people just call me Chamo, so you can too."

"Chamo-san." Reina nods.

"There was something else I was going to tell you," Chamo adds. "The card is also a powerful magical artifact. All you have to do is say the word 'adeat' and it'll change. Do you feel up to it? Let's see your pactio artifact."

Reina stands up and looks at the card. "Just say…?"

"Adeat," Negi tells her.

The white haired girl nods again. "Okay… Adeat."

The card shines and changes into a beautiful white shield that is quite oversized looking. It can easily shield Reina's entire body if she ducked a bit. Ornate golden trim forms a majestic design on the front of an eagle wearing a crown. Somehow, for its size, it doesn't seem to weigh all that much

Chamo gives it a once over, scratching his chin as he does. "Nice work! I'm still a little confused as to why it doesn't have the artifact on the card and why the card has that sheen to it. But I'm sure that it'll sort itself out since it certainly doesn't seem like it messed anything up."

"So this is the one from Negi-sensei?"

"Yep. I'm kind of wondering about the other one. It has your picture on it but not your name. Could that artifact still be accessed?" Chamo asks.

The shield girl offers, "I'm willing to check it out… As long as it won't explode or something."

"See the problem is, usually you can only be a partner once," the ermine explains. "During a temporary pactio, a mage can have multiple partners so long as their magic can hold out. I've never really seen an inverse to this happen, so I really can't say." He hands her the card. "Here you go."

With an utterance of the word "Adeat," Reina quickly finds a shovel in her free hand. It isn't ornate by any length of the word. Looking rather worn and rusted like the kind of shovel you would find in an old tool shed on a long forgotten part of a farm. They could smell the age and the metal of it.

It exudes a black aura that causes the boy and the ermine to shudder. It doesn't seem to work on the girl holding it.

"Umm… Is this some kind of joke?" Reina asks.

"Just because it looks dirty and old doesn't mean it isn't useless. In fact, it's probably quite a powerful artifact," Negi tells her. "But considering it came from a pactio with that boy, I'd put it away and leave it."

"You're probably right. How do I do that?"

"Just say 'Abeat' and it will become a card again," instructs Chamo. "And if you want I can lock it up when we get back to Mahora."

"Just keep a hold of it until we get back. If it has some use I'd like to use it just like he wanted to use me, but by no means do I want it on me while he could be around," Reina sounds decisive. "Abeat."

"Got ya toots." He takes the card when she hands it to him.

She reverts the shield back to the card it came from, sliding the card into a skirt pocket.

"I want to apologize again for wrapping you up in this. If things had gone the way they should have, you would never have known. But I need you to keep my secret for me. You can't tell anyone about me being a wizard."

"Okay. Any reason why?"

"There is a governing body of mages that regulate these things. If word gets back to them that I exposed the secret of magic they'll turn me into an ermine."

"I can do that. It's the least I can do for someone who's come to my rescue twice now." Reina kneels down to him and plants a small kiss on his lips. When she's done and Negi's face is redder than the ripest tomato on a late summer's day, she whispers to him, "Through kisses passed and ones possibly yet to come, at least this one I'll remember."

She heads to the door and leaves, leaving a stunned Negi and Chamo in her wake.

"Way to go Aniki!" Chamo says with gusto. "Come on. I like her, let's catch up!" Chamo hurries to the door like pet wanting out and quickly bounds around the corner.

Negi remains stunned for a moment longer before he too leaves the room.

* * *

**Night Of The Second Day**

"She called her robot…" Nitta says to Shizuna.

She's sitting across from him in the little food vending machine area when she responds. "Oh I don't see an issue. It is hers after all and if it makes her feel a bit more comfortable, why not let her? It's like a student bringing their phone and things."

"Fine," he answers, "but this isn't going to help her any. I'm personally going to check to make sure she is in her room when night check comes."

* * *

Negi sits and takes out some paper golems Setsuna loaned him earlier. She had told him to use a brush when writing his name… but that isn't working out so well. He moves it around, barely making legible characters.

"Oooh… this isn't going so well."

Nu-gi… "Oh darn it." He sits it to the side.

Na-r-f… "Oops… Maybe I should write on the desk." That one gets set to the side, on top of the last one.

Ne-ga… "The brush makes this so difficult. I don't see how painters sign their works." He adds to the stack.

Nu-ka… "That sounds familiar. I can't quite place it though. Oh… Only one more left." Yet another botched job put in the pile.

"Okay. Steady hand… Focused mind… Even breaths. And go." Slowly, the name Negi Springfield appears on the paper. "That's good."

He recites the calling to summon the paper double. In a puff and wink of magic, the double stands before him, blank expression and all.

"Oh I must say this is a great copy."

"Good evening, I'm Negi Springfield."

The original puts his hands on the copy's shoulders. "Okay, now listen. You will stay here in my bed while I go on patrol."

"Righty-o!" the copy says.

"Good." With that, the true Negi grabs his staff and heads off to patrol.

The trash bin begins to glow something fierce. From the glow several mutant looking things climb out and stand up. They warble into a Negi-like shape before the proper copy.

"Good evening gentlemen, I'm Negi Springfield."

"Hey-o!" greets Narf.

Nugi says "Hiya!"

Nega replies, "I'm bored."

"I'm thirsty," is Nuka's statement.

"My orders are to stay and sleep. What about you?"

"Gee, I don't know. Don't think I have any," answers Nugi.

Narf laughs strangely instead of answering.

"I'm out. Laters." Nega walks off without further conversation.

Nuka smacks his lips together and writhes his tongue around like he's trying to moisten things up.

Narf, Nugi, and Nuka get up and follow Nega's example, leaving the proper copy behind.

* * *

Tonight is the night of the kissing competition, and many of the rooms are hooked into the feed of cameras around the hotel. The various teams are at their starting points, waiting for the clocks to tell them to start. Eventually the clocks all strike 9 p.m., opening the gates.

"Sound and everything. We are good to go!" Chamo tells the journalist.

She raises her thumb eagerly.

"I hope everyone can hear me because 'Operation Kiss Negi Passionately' has begun." Asakura's voice comes out over the speakers of the few televisions that are patched in. "First off let me explain the rules, two girls from each of the groups have been selected. The objective is to be the first to find and kiss _the one… the only…_ Negi-kun!

"However, it's not simply a race! Oh no. It's also a pillow fight with each girl being equipped with two pillows each. If two or more groups meet, they must fight."

She changes the cameras to give a view of each team as she describes them. "First up is the terrible duo of Fuka and Fumika. Supposedly, twins are able to tell what the other twin is thinking, so anyone who messes with these twins is testing for trouble.

"Next is the power team and favorite to win, Kaede and Ku-Fei. One's a master of ninjitsu and the other is a martial arts powerhouse. With that kind of strength and skill, it would take a madman to go against them.

"Our third team is the duo of Nodoka and Yue. Both girls are quite and as we all know, it's the quiet ones you have to watch out for. Can these two pull a victory out tonight, or will the bold moves Nodoka made be put to waste?

"Next up is the well-balanced team of Yuna and Makie. Due to their activities, both have great balance and endurance. How will that come into play in this game?

"Finally there is the team of Ayaka and Zazie! I had originally contacted Chisame-san about playing but she told me to go… well I won't repeat it here. Anyway, the class rep has superior financial backing, could a well placed bribe bring about a win? And how about Zazie? Where can her talents lead them?

"It won't be as easy as all that either! Patrolling the halls along with the prize is 'The Ogre,' Nitta-sensei. And I heard that if he catches anyone not in their rooms, they'll spend all night in the lobby in the seiza position as punishment. Heaven or hell, which one will our contestants obtain?"

* * *

The various teams walk around the darkened halls, pillows ready to rain down feathery justice to any other teams they may cross. Ayaka and Zazie arch around a corner, boldly standing out in the open of the hallway.

"We need to hurry up," Ayaka states. "The lips of no other girl are worthy of touching Negi-sensei. No offence."

"…" Zazie tells her.

"Shh!" Ayaka hushes and leans against the wall. "Down there." The line from her finger leads down the hall to two tiny figures coming around the corner. "Fuka and Fumika… We can take them."

Zazie thought about mentioning something… but decided against it, instead joining Ayaka in leaning against the wall. The soft foot falls of the two shadowy figures become slowly louder as they approach the two waiting girls. Without even the slightest announcement, Ayaka begins her attack.

The two sides assault each other with pillow strikes as various shrieks come from three different sources. If the lighting was better, you could have seen a couple of feathers wafting through the air. Poof, poof, poof!

"Had enough Fuka-san and Fumika-san?" Ayaka asks her opponents while gently assaulting them with pure down comfort.

"We're _oof_not the Narutakis. It's _uff_Yue and Nodoka-san!" says the small philosopher between pillow strikes.

"Either way, I shant let you win this game. Negi-sensei's lips belong only to me!" The taller blonde girl continues to thwack away at her tiny classmate. "Our little Nodoka-san may have been triumphant earlier this afternoon, but I will be the victor now."

_POOF!!! _With another pillow smash, Yue falls.

"Oh hohoho! Just give me time to find you Negi-san and don't kiss anyone until I do!" she trills as she leaves her two opponents in her Negi Love wake, Zazie following closely behind her. "By the way Zazie-san, you took care of Nodoka-san,didn't you?"

The tumbler looks back. "…"

Ayaka interrupts. "Oh, of course you did. What a stupid thing to ask. You're very reliable."

* * *

Meanwhile, the proper twins are roadie running to and fro, dashing behind various objects like paintball tournament participants. They spot one of the teams, Yuna and Makie, and hide just inside the nearby bathroom, leaving the door open just a teeny-tiny bit. They click the light off to prevent it from tipping the two approaching girls off.

When Yuna and Makie pass the restroom, the Narutakis jump out and both toss a pillow. Each pillow connects with the back of a head causing the gymnast and her basketballer friend to turn and face their shadowy assailants.

Yuna rushes forward and lands a devastatingly soft strike on Fuka. Makie smacks Fumika a soft one in the side. Both sides giggle and shriek as they trade strikes.

Yue and Nodoka slowly sit up, reeling from the Ayaka and Zazie assault.

"Not that I was expecting anything different, but Iincho-san's serious about this." Yue stands up and straightens out her yukuta. "You okay, Nodoka?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." She is doing the same as her friend.

"I've come up with an idea. We should use the outside of the building to our advantage. I've heard Nitta-sensei is walking the halls and he'll make anyone he captures sit in the seiza position downstairs," explains the smaller girl.

"That's really thinking outside the box," Nodoka muses with a smile.

"Now's not the time for that. We need to make up for this afternoon when Negi-sensei left. You could have had a chance then."

"He got called away because Reina-san was kidnapped. I'd rather see that everyone is safe rather than have Negi-sensei for selfish reasons."

"I suppose you're right. I wouldn't want anyone hurt either. But either way, she has been horning in ever since she came here. You need to do something to cement yourself in with Negi and winning this contest by kissing him is the way to do it. Come on."

Nodoka follows her, a pinker pigment on her face than before. "R- Ri- ight."

* * *

Kazumi can't believe her eyes. She blinks a bit to make sure she's seeing things right. Three of the screens are showing Negi. Then two more show up, making for a grand total of five different Negis on-screen.

"Umm… Ladies, I don't how or why, but there appear to be five different Negis in the hotel right now!"

"I- Is this something you did?" Chamo asks.

"I was thinking the same of you. Either way, the more cards we have, the more money we have, right?"

"Well I didn't do anything… And you didn't do anything… While this isn't good, we shouldn't be alarming anyone. Let's see how this plays out."

* * *

The twins leave their battle with Yuna and Makie behind them, heading for the vending machines. They can see that someone about their size is standing there, drinking in the soft glow of the red lights of the machine. Two glints come off of a small pair of glasses near the eyes.

"Negi?" Fuka asks.

They only hear the sounds of small gulps and the crinkling of a plastic bottle.

"Ahhhhh…" exhales the figure. "Oh hello, Fuka-san, Fumika-san. Why don't you sit down here with me and have a nice Nuka-Cola with me?"

"Negi-sensei?"

"That's Nuka-sensei. I'm sure you two would enjoy the cold, crisp taste of a fine Nuka-Cola. I'll even buy you both one." He stands up, knocking over a small pile of empty bottles as he walks to the machine and opens the door, obviously having broken the lock. There aren't too many bottles left in the machine. He hands both of them one. "One for you and one for you."

"Umm…" Fuka sets her to the side while Fumika opens hers and takes a drink. "We were wondering…"

"Where to get a Nuka-Cola?" the teacher copy asks. "You can get one where ever you see our super friendly red machines. Our special vending machines and rigorous refill schedule insure a constant flow of ice cold Nuka-Cola from every machine, perfect for modern jet-set lifestyles. We are also available at all of your favorite retailers and grocery outlets… and some restrooms. Because, you know… Going to the toilet can be thirsty work."

"Are you sure you should be drinking this much soda?" Fumika asks.

"Yeah. I'm good, why?" Nuka responds.

Fumika lets it slide. Instead, she focuses on the goal of kissing the young teacher. "Negi-kun," she says, sounding playful. "Come on… We needed to ask you something."

"About Nuka-Cola?"

"No," Fuka answers for the both of them. "Would you let us… kiss you?"

* * *

Ayaka and Zazie make their way down another hallway, looking for any sign of the small teacher. The acrobat of the two makes sure to check each room. She had enough forethought to take a light with her when the game began.

They make their way down a hall with a number of windows along it. The moonlight reflects of the white paint job of the Ivory Knight and makes the hallway easy to see in. Zazie points down to the other end, where the light doesn't reach. There is a shorter figure down at the end of the hallway. Since they are in the light, they cannot make out any details other than they are short.

"That has to be Negi-sensei," whispers the rep. "Quickly!" They both rush down the hallway, Ayaka a bit more eager than her teammate.

She stops just short of pouncing on the figure. Her heart begins to race with thoughts of Negi's lips fluttering around in her mind. Without thinking, she slowly moves closer. The figure turns a little to its left to see the lips of the incoming class representative.

Ayaka holds the face of her "favorite teacher" as she continues the lip lock. She can feel what seems to be wires along the sides of the face. Zazie thinks about saying something but shines her light on this person instead. The sudden flood of light causes Ayaka the open her eyes.

White hair… green eyes… No. This isn't Negi at all. A sick feeling runs through her as she pulls back. She had been kissing Reina.

Reina backs to the nearby wall, knocking away a tube of toothpaste with her foot and an MP3 player dangling around her neck. She was in the process of cleaning up the toothpaste, which thanks to the flip top cap, had splattered a bit on the floor when she reached for it, when Ayaka had spotted her on her knees.

In a bit of disbelief, Ayaka asks, "White… hall-san?"

The shy girl's lower lip twitches, making it look like she is going to speak. Wordlessly, she hurries to stand up and runs off asking, "What the hell is wrong with you people?!" She ducks in the bathroom she just came from, locking the door after she slams it behind her, and begins using hand soap to wash her lips off, having left her toothpaste back in the hallway with the girl who just kissed her.

The toothpaste may as well be lost for all Reina wants.

Back out in the hallway, Ayaka wipes her mouth with her yukuta sleeve. "Why didn't you say something?"

Zazie opens her mouth only to be interrupted with odd laughter.

"Whee! Hee hee hee… Ya kissed a girl but I don't think ya liked it."

Zazie makes sure this time and shines a light on the speaker. It definitely looks like Negi this time.

The blonde girl's heart skips a beat at the proper sight of the little teacher. "Negi-sensei… you saw that? It was a mistake! I wasn't thinking clearly but now that you are here… There is something I'd like to do.

With a laugh, this Negi asks, "Oh? Whazzat?" He mutters, "It's Narf F.Y.I."

"Would you mind terribly if I gave you a kiss?"

"Why?"

His response trips her up. "Um… Why?"

"Why?"

"Well…" In the dark, no one can see you blush. "I…"

Narf asks, "Who are you again?"

Ayaka's heart breaks a little. "Do… Do I not make an impression on you?"

"This is the first time I've seen you. This is also the first time I've seen that one there… and the white haired girl that had to go to the bathroom real bad."

Concerned, Ayaka asks, "Are you feeling okay?"

"I'm great. Ha ha! Well, I'm gonna go now if you don't want anything." Narf begins to toddle off when Ayaka stops him again.

"Wait!"

"Yes?"

"Negi-sensei, I want… to kiss you!"

* * *

Yuna and Makie head the other way from their confrontation with the twins, both pumped for their next attack. They continue their march down the hallway keeping an eye out for any sign of Negi. Like the other groups, they run into _a_Negi Springfield… Just not _the_ Negi Springfield.

"Finally, some girls. I was beginning to think this place was abandoned."

"Negi-sensei?" asks Yuna.

"It's Nega Springfield," replies the teacher copy. "And what do you say we go somewhere? I mean, the evening's only really just begun and I'm kinda lonely."

Makie is all red at this point. "Eh?! Negi-Sensei… Are you… asking us out on a date?"

"If you want to call it that. So what do you say we skip out of here and find somewhere better to be?" The copy follows up, muttering, "And I just said it's Nega. Whatever you prime ladies want I guess."

The two girls step away for a second and go into conference mode.

Yuna puts her thoughts on the table. "I think something is up with Negi-kun. He's acting awfully forward."

"Well, he did say he was lonely," Makie retorts unsuccessfully.

"Are you really that thick?"

Makie pokes herself in the stomach. "I'm not fat…"

"Not like that! I mean that whole lonely bit. Sounds a little forward to me."

"Well, I don't think he's sleeping in the same room as Asuna and Konoka."

"That's true. Still though, something tells me this is wrong. He's acting weird to me."

Makie observes, "Maybe he's becoming a man?"

"That's also a possibility… I guess. Well, at the very least, we shouldn't squander this opportunity."

They come back from conference to Nega waiting impatiently for them. "Well?" he asks.

"Negi-sensei, would you mind terribly if one of us kissed you?" It takes a lot for Yuna to ask that question without choking, not out of disgust mind you.

Under his breath, Nega mumbles, "Well, I had more in mind. But I might as well make the best of the situation."

Speaking up, he tells the duo, "Why not the both of you? It certainly would be fair to one of you if the other got left out, right?"

For Yuna, that seems a little strange for the usually reserved boy. "Negi-sensei, are you… sure?"

"Of course. What's a kiss these days? After that, you want to get out of here? Seriously, I'm bored and would like a little female accompaniment, and I don't know of any finer possibilities." He steps between the two and wraps his arms around their waists. "So, why don't we discuss this in a brighter place, that way I can truly partake in your… company?"

"We can't leave. First of all, Nitta is wandering about and I hear he is going to make anyone he catches outside their room sit in seiza position in the lobby," Makie remarks. "If that happens, we lose."

Nega thinks this over. "Well there's a really bright spot over by that thing outside. We could hang around over there, what do you say?" He holds out his hands, ready to take the two girls with him.

The two students accept his offer and follow him to the brighter hallway. They were still playing a game after all.

* * *

Kaede and Ku-Fei are in luck as they find _a_Negi all by himself and without having run into any other teams. He is standing near a window, looking out at the cityscape. He arcs his head around and back to look at the two girls approaching him.

"Oh, hello. How are you two this evening?"

Ku-Fei answers, "We good. Even better after find you."

"Oh? How so?" this Negi asks.

"Well, Negi-sensei," Kaede tells him, "we were hoping we could get some of your time."

This Negi smiles. "Well, here I am and I got plenty of time, so what's up? And my name is Nugi."

Ku-Fei steps forward and leans down…

"_Oh, this could be it ladies. Could Ku-Fei be the one who snatches victory from the jaws of defeat?!"_ Kazumi asks from inside the control room.

The martial artist gives him a sweet little grin and plants a kiss on his lips. The overload is too much for the boy clone causing him to explode in a puff of magic and paper powder.

The blonde's hair is messed up, most of it now looking like she combed her hair back and ran through a dust cloud. She spits out a bit and wipes her face off. "What happened?"

Kaede actually has her left eye open. "I'm not sure. Well, it's probably harmless." Kaede knows full well it very well may not be. "It's probably a prank Kazumi pulled, likely after blackmailing Hakase or Chao into making some kind of robot or something. Come on, let's keep moving."

Ku-Fei nods and follows her taller friend.

"_It looks like this Negi has exploded. I think as a rule, Negi must make it out of the kiss completely unharmed. Sorry, Ku-Fei fans but no victory here,"_ Kazumi tells her anxious audience. There is no way she's going to let it end so anti-climatically.

* * *

Back with Yue and Nodoka, the two are climbing through a ventilation shaft. Their progress through the air duct is not quiet by any means. To someone outside the duct, it sounds quite like slow moving thunder claps. With her flashlight in her mouth and pillows in both hands, Yue comes to a vent leading down into the hallway. Yue bashes the screws that held the vent cover in, knocking them out, and dropping the cover to the floor with a loud bang.

"Yue, did you have to make so much noise?"

Yue explains. "Yes. I saw Negi on this floor when we were outside. Make a noise and hopefully he'll come to investigate, giving you the opportunity to kiss him and win the game."

"O- Okay." The thought of kissing Negi is buzzing around her mind.

True to Yue's plan, it's not long before a small figure peeks from around the corner. "Hello?"

"Negi-sensei?" Yue asks.

"Yep. It's me." He steps around the corner and gets a look at who was speaking to him. "Yue-san and Nodoka-san? What are you doing out here?"

Whispering, Yue tells her shy friend, "Go on, now's your time. I'll stand watch to prevent any attack." She pushes Nodoka gently towards the boy.

Nodoka exclaims and stumbles closer. "Umm… Negi-sensei…?"

"Yes?"

Her heart races at near light speed, leaving her flustered. "Would… Would you let me kiss you?" She felt like she was about to die. To have been so forward!

"What about Yue-san?"

"What?!" Yue asks. "Wouldn't you rather kiss her?"

"Don't you want to kiss me?"

Yue looks slightly appalled yet not whole-heartedly-against the idea that suddenly sprang out of nowhere. "Why would you want to kiss me?"

"Why _wouldn't_ I want to kiss you?"

"Negi-sensei! Could you be as heartless as to throw away the feeling Nodoka-san has for you?"

"Well, what about my feelings for you?"

"Me?!" Yue cannot believe what she is hearing. "How could you feel anything for me?"

"You can't help who you fall in love with." The boy's face was one of solemn sadness.

The philosopher admits to herself that this is true, but she certainly didn't send any subliminal messages, did she? Did her body language say something? Perhaps he liked her pheromones? Certainly, Nodoka's would be better. What a nightmare!

"Listen, Negi-sensei… Wouldn't you much rather go after Nodoka? She's taller and—"

Negi wraps his arm around Yue… Quite literally! The stretchy arms are enough to snap Nodoka's views on reality and make her pass out.

"I knew something was wrong here!" exclaims Yue. "You're not Negi-sensei at all! You're an imposter!"

"I really do like you though."

"But why?"

"What's not to like? The hair, the eyes…" The obvious teacher clone draws closer and attempts forcing himself on her. "Besides… A flat chest is a status symbol! Extremely rare and valuable!"

Yue tries to resist as the Negi copy gets closer to her face. "No!" she protests and tries shoving and pushing but the stretchiness of its arms makes it a worthless attempt.

A hand shoves her face around to meet his and he plants a kiss on her lips. The pactio circle outside the inn activates and causes a backflow of energy within the copy, forcing it to explode. When the resulting dust settles, Yue sees Nitta standing near the area. They lost.

"_Oh and the book is closed on those two!"_Asakura remarks.

* * *

Back with Fuka and Fumika, Fuka is leaning in to kiss him. Before she can, she is greeted with Nuka's open mouth, followed by a loud, wet, belch. Fuka shudders and backs away, wiping any and all splatters, real or imagined, off of her face. She swears she could hear the sound of soda foaming up, reminding her of someone pouring a carbonated beverage into a glass.

Fumika looks at her bottle while putting the lid back on and tosses it into a nearby trash can.

"You kiss him next." Fuka shoves her sibling forward. The last thing she wanted to do was be barfed on or something.

Her sister doesn't look like she wants that either. "Err… But…"

"Just kiss him."

Fumika quickly convinces herself that the belch was a momentary lapse in judgment. She nods slightly and places her lips against her teachers. Being short had its advantages after all. They were at the perfect height so they didn't have to lower down.

She suddenly gets a face… and body… covered in foam. Cold, wet, and sticky foam. It coats her sister, and the floor and walls, too because Nuka exploded in a burst of cola and magic. They wipe the solution from their eyes and look at each other.

"Fuka… What just happened?"

Fumika just shakes her head in disbelief.

Recently back from his trip to the lobby with Nodoka and Yue, Nitta looms behind the two soda soaked girls and clears his throat. "Do you two mind telling me why you decided to have a soda fight after you should be in bed?"

Stereophonically, the twins exclaim, "Eeep!"

"We're going to the restroom. You will wash your faces and then we will go to the lobby on the first floor."

"_And it looks like the bubbly twin's game just burst,"_ Asakura comments to her viewers. Chamo groans to himself.

* * *

Over with Ayaka, Zazie, and Narf, the clone boy is pondering Ayaka's statement. "Kiss me eh? Sure—"

Ayaka's heart fills with a most wondrous sensation. This is going to be everything her young heart desires. Her cheeks become a light shade of crimson as Negi, Negi, and only Negi, runs through her mind.

"But," like a ball through a window, the boy shatters her fantasy, "I wanna find the others. I am lonely."

"I will be more than happy to keep you company."

He rocks his head from side to side, obviously thinking deep. "Sure, why not? I suppose then you'll wanna do this kiss thing you were talking about. How's that work?"

Ayaka sees the opening and takes it. "Just like this." She places her lips softly on his… only to get a face full of smoke and paper dust. One could say it was a… magical… experience for the girl. After the dust settles, she blows a bit to get the paper out of her mouth and off her lips. After that, she brushes her face off, removing a thick layer of paper powder.

She shakes her head, sending out a small cloud of the dust. Looking at her teammate, she asks, "What just happened?"

Zazie is about to answer when she is interrupted.

"Yukihiro-san! I cannot believe I have caught you out past lights out." Zazie and the rep turn to see Nitta with Fuka and Fumika in tow. "Alright you two, follow me."

"_And even the mighty Iincho has fallen to The Ogre. That leaves only the teams of Yuna and Makie, and Kaede and Ku-Fei. Which team will claim the prize?"

* * *

_

Yuna, Makie, and Nega sit in the glow reflecting off the mech outside the window. Leaning up against the opposite wall. Nega has his arms around the two girls.

"So, who owns that?" Nega asks, pointing at the looming machine outside.

"Are you kidding? That's Reina-san's"

Nega realizes he better watch his step. "I was kidding. I guess it wasn't very funny. I'm sorry."

Yuna presses the issue, realizing they have a golden opportunity to win. "Sensei… about that kiss."

"Just a kiss, huh? Sure."

Without a moment's hesitation he put his lips to hers and leans to the right. Yuna, too shocked by his straightforwardness, simply rolls with it and notes the softness of the teacher's lips. Before she realizes it, she can feel a hand on her chest. This is quickly becoming something she didn't think it was going to be, and certainly wasn't going any farther. She pushes him back and slaps him a good one!

Makie, who couldn't quite see what was going on in the dark, jerks to the sound of the slap. "What happened?"

To answer her question, the slap causes Nega to explode violently. As the force of the explosion calms down, Yuna and Makie cough out all the particles they inhaled. Yuna brushes herself off while Makie shakes like a wet dog.

"What was all that about?" Makie asks.

"Negi-sensei… touched me."

"Well it looks like you murdered him for it… Then burned his body and spread his ashes around."

"Hey, it's those kinds of curious indiscretions that causes boys to grow up to be perverts. I thought I was doing him a favor." The duo stands up and grabs their pillows. "In the end, I think this was some kind of prank by Kazumi-san. We need to hurry up, we wasted enough time here."

Makie nods and they both head off to find Negi. They head upstairs using the stairwell, deciding not to give their competition any kinds of clues as to their whereabouts. Little do they know that most of their competition has already been captured by Nitta and are now sitting in the lobby.

They both look each way and listen intently. Makie points over to the elevator and Nitta hauling Ayaka, Zazie, Fuka, and Fumika along with him.

"Damn. He's been busy. I don't see Negi-sensei with him so we might have a better chance now with them out of the way, especially Ayaka," Yuna observes aloud so Makie can follow.

Makie proves she has been paying a little attention. "We should head further up."

"Why's that?"

"If Nitta has been on this floor already, I'm sure he did a complete sweep of the floor. Most likely, if Negi wasn't with him then he's not on this floor."

"Right then. Let's head up."

When they open the stairwell door to the next floor, they take the same precautions as the last floor. This time keeping an eye out for Yue, Nodoka, Ku-Fei, and Kaede. The step quietly out into the hall and begin looking around. After they are satisfied that he isn't there, they head back to the stairwell only to find Ku-Fei and Kaede in waiting.

"We were waiting for you to come back," Kaede tells them.

Ku-Fei adds, "You no stand chance!"

Battle between the two groups flare up, pillows and bated shrieks tossing back and forth. A ping at the end of the hallway stops battle mid-attacks, with a pillow launched by Kaede bouncing off Makie's head. The pink haired girl falls back instead of looking at the elevator.

In the yellow glow of the elevator stand the object of the game, Negi. Unable to see the girls since he is standing in the light, the teacher steps out and heads of to his left, luckily avoiding the chaos of the fight ahead. The group of girls all exchange glances, with the exception of Makie who is getting up off the floor, and realize it's going to be a photo finish, with the winner crossing the finish line of Negi's lips.

Makie, oblivious to what was going on, simply follows the rest.

The target… Er, teacher is over near the stairwell door when he hears a distant rumble, like a thunderstorm on the horizon, coming from behind him. Turning around, he's shocked to see four girls chasing after him, all armed with pillows. The first thing to go through his mind is "They're going to hit me with pillows," which causes him to open the door to the stairs as an evasion tactic. However, they're too quick for him and are in upon him in nothing flat.

He isn't looking when he backs up, and ends up falling over the railing. Thinking fast, Kaede jumps after him and catches him before he strikes the floor below.

"OH!" He hugs Kaede out of shock and thankfulness. "Thank you!"

"You are welcome. I hope you are okay." She puts him gently down on the floor.

"Thanks to you. What were you up to anyway?" he asks.

Kaede sorta blushes and dances around the subject. "You see…"

"Yes?"

"Please excuse me for this." Before he knows it, she kisses him, causing a shine of light outside that goes unnoticed to all and winning the contest.

A mortified look crosses his face in response, but it's short lived.

"Nagase-san and Springfield-san!" calls out a voice above them. It's Nitta, proving once again that bad news travels faster than good news. "When I get down there, both of you and your group of friends here, are all going to sit in the lobby until dawn."

* * *

Back by the bathroom near a tube of toothpaste, Reina sticks her head out of the door. She looks around for the blonde freak who kissed her earlier. Thankfully, there is no sign of her at all. She quickly shuffles back to the room, only to remember that there are more girls within. Taking deep breaths to calm herself, she grabs the handle and… steps back.

The whole "getting kissed by a girl" thing is still bouncing around in her head. A week-long regimen of brushing and mouthwash should do it.

She tries the door again. This time she bolsters herself enough to open the door, only to find that no one is within.

"Oh, that's right! They went to go watch something. I would have thought they'd be back by now. Ah, why do I care? At least I can get some proper sleep."

Without a slight bit more thought, she climbs into her bed and falls asleep.

Everyone else, at least those connected with the kissing game, enjoy a pleasant night getting busted by Nitta and an early morning sitting in an uncomfortable position in the lobby.

* * *

**Morning of the Third Day**

Free activity day arrives, bringing with it high energy and lots of plans for the day. Everyone is getting ready to head out. Once again, as usual, many of the groups are looking for Negi today. After giving the Asuna and Kaede a tutorial on how to use the artifacts, and a requisite speech to Kaede about magic and secrets and ermines, Chamo and him leave discreetly out the back to avoid any squabbling for his attention.

To his surprise, he finds Asuna, Setsuna, Konoka, Kaede, Yue, Haruna, and Nodoka waiting for him. Quietly, Asuna apologizes for having the other trio with them. Apparently they were caught by Haruna. They toss about the idea of ditching them somewhere along the way.

They pass by several lovely places, all within walking distance of the hotel. As they approach an arcade, the idea of taking some photos to mark the occasion pops up. When they've had their fill of pictures, they come across a fully licensed game based on the card game they were playing on the trip over. If they do well, they can get a sparkly-shiny card only available in that region.

It happens to sit next to a bigger cabinet set-up named "Mech Simulator 3! Arcade Mix!!!"

"This might be a good opportunity," Asuna tells they teacher. "We can play a game or two and then evade them."

Negi nods his agreement and sits down as a strange kid in a stocking cap comes up and asks if it would be possible to join in. "Go right ahead."

The girls get excited for the fight about to happen.

It doesn't take long for Negi to get his head handed to him.

"Ah… I lost." Negi still has a smile on his face.

"It's okay," Haruna offers. "You did well for your first time."

"Yeah!" says the child. "But your skills as a wizard need a lot of work. See you around, Springfield-kun."

This stuns Negi. "How did you know my name?!" The kid points to the screen which jars Negi's memory. "Oh… Right."

The stranger bumps into Nodoka. "Sorry. Didn't mean to." They get up rather quickly and the kid rushes out again. "Cute panties by the way!"

Nodoka turns a deep red at this.

While this is all going on, Asuna and Negi take the opportunity to leave the others, with Setsuna telling them to be careful. Asuna nods at Kaede, in turn, Kaede nonchalantly heads to the exit along with them.

* * *

The weird kid joins up with a group of three other people… and a demon with a tag on its face.

"As was thought, his last name is Springfield."

"As I expected. Well, he's about to feel our retribution, and it will be colossal."

* * *

After a train ride, Asuna, Kaede, and Negi come to a massive torii gate sitting at the entrance of a forest. As they are about to enter, a tiny Setsuna pops into existence in front of Asuna, startling the three of them.

"Negi-sensei, Asuna-san, Kaede-san are you okay?"

"Setsuna-san?" Negi asks the small copy.

"I am a double sent to communicate with you. I was worried." The tiny Setsuna bows. "You can call me Mini-Setsuna if you wish."

"I think the leader of the Kansai Magic Association is within. However, do not assume a messenger from the east will be welcomed. So be mindful for traps and such," advises the tiny girl. "Who knows what the attackers from the other day are up to?"

"Thanks a lot, Mini-Setsuna. We'll be sure to be on guard." Negi unholsters his staff, Asuna draws out her pactio fan, and Kaede wraps her cloak around her shoulders. They all got a lesson on it earlier from Chamo before leaving this morning.

The squad hustles up the steps and along a long path… then further down the path… for a while… and longer… Exhausted, they stop running.

"These steps are taking forever!" complains Asuna, dropping to her knees.

"I think… I wonder…" Mini-Setsuna floats around excitedly. "Follow me Negi-sensei. Kaede-san, remain on lookout while we look on ahead."

"Will do."

Not much longer after that, Negi and the small Setsuna come up from behind Asuna.

Kaede looks at them, looking slightly baffled.

"Quick!" exlaims the little girl. "Let's head through the bamboo!" This produces the same results as running down the path had.

"Auugh! What's going on?" Negi asks.

Mini-Setsu hints, "It's just as I thought."

"It's like that part in the _Legend of Zelda_ games," the ninja hints.

"What does that mean?" Asuna asks.

"The Lost Woods," Kaede answers cryptically. "A section in a number of Zelda games where simply wandering around isn't going to get you anywhere but stuck in the same spot. This is a puzzle I bet. One we need to figure out the answer to before we can leave."

"A magical never-ending space. We are trapped within these thousand gates." With the small copy's revelation, the pressure of the situation hit the victims.

Unbeknownst to them, they are being watched. The watchers see Negi fly up, only to reappear on the ground. After a small interaction, Asuna runs off.

"Wait up! I know something I can do!" pleads Negi. "Where are you going?"

"It's gonna have to wait!" she answers.

Negi and Kaede do their best to keep up with her. After another long sprint they all end up at a rest stop along the path. Without stopping for a second, Asuna head into the women's restroom.

Mostly to himself, Negi says, "Oh. Well, she could have said something."

"What's your idea Negi-kun?" asks Kaede.

"See, one of the fundamental rules of the school of illusion is the Law of Perception Preservation…" A quiet moment passes between the two. "You don't understand what I just said, do you?"

"…No. But I'll still listen. Maybe if you explain it I might understand."

"Well, an illusion is based merely on its ability to deceive the one's experiencing it. If you can shatter it, or disprove it in any matter, the illusion ceases. Simply knowing it's an illusion won't stop something like this though. But I know of a way I can break it."

"How's that?"

"Well, I need really long string or a rope. Fortunately, I keep a length with me for times like this. I just never thought I'd need it."

"So we can get out of it? That's good!" Mini-Setsuna states. "Because the real Setsuna is unable to come here since she's keeping an eye on Konoka."

Kaede adds with a smile, "I'm not too sure on how a string can get us out of here, but if it works, all the better for us."

"You're getting too close and I'm afraid I can't let you out of here!" comes a voice from nowhere. It's immediately proceeded by a loud crash and a small dust storm as something huge lands near them. When the particles settle, there is a large spider creature with a tag on its face and the kid from the arcade standing on top of it.

"Y- You!" Negi is in disbelief.

"Heh… Why don't we start with the most prone one?" The spider creeps over to the restroom and smashes the side with Asuna in it.

She just finished washing her hands and is about to leave when the spider crashes in, reminding her of that scene in that movie with the lawyer on the toilet and the dinosaur. Deciding not to play the role of the lawyer who totally deserved becoming T-Rex chow, she runs out the door to join up with Negi and Kaede.

"Asuna, are you okay?"

"I'm fine. What is the kid from the arcade doing here?!"

"I'm here to stop you by any means necessary. And my pet's kinda hungry so I thought we'd go out to eat." To emphasize the point, the impossibly big spider chatters its fangs. "Eat girl, eat!" With that command, the large spider thrashes forward towards the trio, and as such with something that large, it clears the path in front of it. The arcade kid jumps down and heads to Negi.

"Come on, western wizard! Or should I say… Negi Springfield?" Without hesitating, he rushes in to attack. All Negi can do is fall back before anything strikes him. Kaede throws a kunai at the arcade kid, forcing him to dodge or have a cold metal blade buried deep within his face.

Negi scrambles up and runs over to Kaede, seeing Asuna run around, avoiding the giant spider.

"Listen aniki, now might be the time to invoke the contract!" Chamo advises. "It looks like she could use some help."

"Right."

Just as Negi is about to speak, the kid from the arcade rushes in to attack. "Oh no you don't!" But before anything can happen, Kaede moves and counters him.

"Go help Asuna-dono," Kaede instructs. "He's mine."

Negi nods and heads to the spider bait. "Does this mean that Konoka-san is also in trouble?"

"I'm afraid so," answers Mini-Setsuna. "But please focus on things here."

Doing just that, Negi activates the contract on Asuna, boosting her power and speed. With this enhancement, Asuna easily dodges the spider's attacks. With the increased agility, she summons her artifact and bashes the spider right square on its tag. Much like a real spider, it goes out with a pop, leaving the tag to waft to the ground.

Boldy, Asuna turns around and swishes her fan down to her side. "Hah. Took care of your pet."

"Stinking western wizards," comments the kid as he slides away from Kaede, "don't you feel silly having a couple of girls defending you?"

"Oh you're just angry I squished your spider!" Asuna points out.

Kaede decides to further bruise the kid's ego. "And I must say that you haven't really posed much of a threat." Her usual smile firmly plastered on her face.

"Heh. Is that how you both think. Well, I'm not just any ordinary person."

Leaving a streak behind, the kid blinks over to Asuna, and easily moves like quicksilver around her attacks, disarming her. He drops down and trips her, then angles toward the small wizard. Negi is only able to shred the kid's cap, revealing two pointy ears beneath, before getting sent flying from the force. Kaede maneuvers around the boy and applies a choke hold.

"Negi-sensei," she orders, "use your plan. We'll take care of this kid."

He gets up and wipes his mouth and runs over to one of the nearby gate posts. The kid turns his head and begins tickling her nose with his ear. Her grip loosens as she sneezes, allowing him to get away from her without a fight.

Asuna is a different point altogether. She runs in to kick him and succeeds in chop blocking him. He stumbles short of his goal of attacking Negi again. When he drops her fan, she picks it up again. The two begin their assault on the boy.

Negi reaches into his pocket and pulls out a well bundled length of twine. He ties one end to a post and begins running one way down the path. It's not long before he realizes that this length of string isn't going to be long enough.

"What do we do now?" asks Mini-Setsuna.

Chamo pulls out a bottle. "We head back and retreat."

"Just a moment… Kaede-san! Use your artifact! I'll take over in battle while you do!"

With a swift jump backwards, Kaede drops out of battle, leaving Asuna alone for the time being. "What do you need Negi-sensei?"

With a sad tone, Negi informs her that his string is too short and that he wants her to go into the cottage and see if there would happen to be a couple of balls of twine. She agrees and does as he asks, which comes to the arcade kid's delight.

"Finally! I can quit blocking onee-san's attacks and take my frustrations out on you!" He switches from Asuna to Negi.

Negi retaliates with a small lightning spell. It stops the kid for a moment.

Shaking it off, he asks, "What the hell was that? Thundershock? That was weak. You'll need at least a Thunderbolt to make me feel it."

With a broad gesture, several black dogs raise up from the shadows. "Go my pets. Play with onee-san over there and keep her company. I'm busy with my new friend here."

"What the," is all Asuna can get out before she is assailed by shadow dogs.

Not wanting to waste a second, the kid assaults Negi with several rapid volleys of punches. "With both of your partners tied up, you're dead meat Negi Springfield!" He rears back with another punch. "Time to end this fight, once and for all."

Thinking quickly, Negi activates a contract on himself for one half of a second. Blocking the attack confuses the black haired kid, causing him to stop for a moment. Through deep breaths, Negi mutters, "Well… I guess that… answers that… question."

He follows up with a right hook loaded with magical power, knocking his former assailant into the air. With the window now open, the boy teacher begins reciting a spell. When he's done, he catches the kid from the game center and keep him aloft one handed. Showing no mercy, he electrocutes him with a White Thunder spell.

As the dog boy twists on the ground, Negi approaches and poses to the downed kid a question. "What do you think about the power of western mages now?"

Straining to speak, the dog kid answers. "Do you really think that's all I have? I haven't even begun to fight."

"Those are some bold words coming from someone lying on the ground."

Shakily, the black haired boy stands up. His hair lengthens and changes color, fangs grow, claws extend, and he grows a tail. "This is the genuine article, Negi." He burst forth, rupturing the area with power and knocking everyone back. "I'm not done playing with you yet!"

To assist, Negi activates the contract on himself for ten seconds. The wolf demon suddenly disappears from Negi's field of vision. Just as he pops back in, a kunai knife buries itself in his side. Kaede arrives with two balls of twine in hand. She places them in Negi's care.

"Here. Me and Asuna-dono can handle him. You get us out of here."

"Thanks Kaede-san." Negi takes the twine and runs back over to the place where he left the string. He can hear the sound of combat as he ties one end of the sting to the twine and heads in the direction he was headed earlier.

When he runs out of twine, the second ball gets tied to the first and continues getting unwound as the boy sprints. Before running out of twine on the second ball, Negi comes to the place where he tied of the original string. He pulls the string and snaps it from the post, keeping the loose end in hand. As soon as he pulls on both ends, he can fell the spell straining to maintain itself. It's shouldn't be possible for the string to be pulled on by both ends in the manner in which Negi is, which scrapes at the spell's borders. The enchantment ripples from both ends and shrinks. Finding a sweet spot, the boy pulls harder and decreases the area effect drastically.

Sensing its collapse, Negi braces for the shock of the spell's collapse. White energy collides into a single point and then explodes. The resulting rush of wind flies by him, knocking his glasses off.

"We're free!" he tells Mini-Setsuna. She smiles at him. "That was quite brilliant!"

Blushing at the small copy's compliment, he picks up his glasses. "We should go notify the others…"

"Of course! No time to dally."

He hops aboard his staff, choosing to fly out. When he arrives at the battlefield, he trumpets his success.

"All right! We are outta here!" Asuna cheers.

Both girls follow Negi as they head to the exit gate. The wolf boy gives chase, refusing to let them go.

"He's gaining on us!"

"I'll seal him in by reinstating the borders of the enchantment!" Mini-Setsuna offers. **"Klaatu barada nikto!"**

The wolf demon stops in his tracks as the spell seals him in. "Dammit!" He falls to his knees and then flomps to the ground. "You actually beat me. I swear I'll get my revenge… Negi Springfield…"

The group leaves to find a place to relax and take a well deserved break.

* * *

Back in Mahora, it's business as usual. Dean Konoemon is seeing a couple of new prospects signed on for courses. The first one is a black haired boy named "Hisao Ishikawa" and the other is a foreign, obviously French, born boy named "Corentin Catherine-Verliane." Both of their records check out. Grades outstanding, physicals great, very well rounded.

The first meeting, the one with Corentin is quite pleasant. He was very bright and cheery. He is going to be a very spirited addition to the school.

Hisao is… another story. His interview is awkward to say the least.

"Well, Ishikawa-san, how do you think you'll improve the state of Mahora Academy?"

"I'll probably just stay out of the way."

This takes Konoemon by surprise. "Excuse me?"

"I'm a quiet person by nature and don't really know anyone here so I'll probably just keep to myself," answers the boy.

Thinking to himself, Konoemon notes how the two new students are opposite from each other. "Well," he says, "your answer isn't really what I like to hear, but you are answering truthfully so I cannot fault you for that."

"Such a sour young gentleman," the older man thinks about the empty room he just assigned to Corentin.

He writes down the information and hands it to Hisao. "This will be your room. You will be rooming with another new student. A boy from France named Corentin Catherine-Verliane. He's quite a cheerful person and I hope he rubs off on you."

Hisao smiles a secret little smile on the inside as the Dean just made things a whole hell of a lot easier.

"Thank you, I'm sure he will."

**Negima: Femella Intra Machina Chapter 07: End**

**The End of the Chapter Stuff:** So what did you think of the change I made? Yes, from here on out things are going to have to be different. So now that FIM is carving out its own niche, hopefully you'll stay along for the ride.

**Thanks This Chapter**to Ansem Man, Midnight Sleeper, and Eternal-Longing for proofreading and Je-kun for the use of Nugi.

**As Always… Thanks for Reading!**


	8. Bad Trip: Part Four

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Negima. It is property of Ken Akumatsu. I only hold claim to Reina Whitehall, William Whitehall, and Kaminari Grand Industrial.

**Authors Notes:**I hope you're settled in because this is the longest chapter yet. In the interest of overall length though, I did trim events from the end of the Kyoto arc that will have no bearing on the story, so if it isn't mentioned, likely hood is that it happened anyway.

**Negima: Femella Intra Machina**

**By Dark Dragon Dave**

**Bad Trip: Part Four**

As Negi, Asuna, Chamo, and Kaede rest after the battle with the wolf in the infinite gates, Chamo asks Negi an important question about the mission.

"You've remembered the letter, right?"

Negi smiles it off and says, "Of course I…" Dread slimes its way into his expression. He pats himself down nervously.

"You forgot it?!" Asuna blurts. "All this way for nothing…"

Negi stumbles over from exerting himself too hard.

Kaede catches him before he can eat dirt. "Careful. It seems you've worn yourself out completely."

"I think I may have left it in my room," Negi tells the girls… and Chamo. "I… failed in my duty. I was in such a hurry to leave that I got absent minded."

"Well, we got one option for a fast delivery." Chamo strokes his chin. "And I happened to get her number in case we ever needed to call her. Now might be a perfect time."

"I don't really have any other choice, do I?"

"Not unless you want to go all the way back to the hotel."

Negi sighs…

* * *

Reina finds herself going into a lingerie store to avoid some of the girls. She wouldn't if she could avoid it, but this was the closest place to duck and cover. The building is located on a "T" intersection. The only other places are a theatre, which is closed for the afternoon, at the end of the bisecting road, and across the street are the other girls. On the same side as the lingerie store is a small lunch bench where'd she be out in the open. Of all the crappy city planning and rotten luck.

Her heart beats faster as merely being in the store is like walking through a minefield, where any moment she could stumble upon some other female.

As she hides out amongst the frillier panties, the clerk does her job by harassing the customer. BOOM! "Can I help you miss?"

"Aahhh!" Reina trips forward, causing her to knock over a display of shockingly pink and white stripped numbers, making it look like a panty bomb went off. There were no survivors.

"Oh dear, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you like that. Let me help you up."

The fallen girl scoots away. "No thanks. I c- can get up on m- my own."

As she gets up, removing a pair that had worked its way around her wrist, she can hear the door open and the voices of some girls coming in. What the hell? Why do things always, ALWAYS, go from bad to worse? The clerk is already going to be looking at her, and now she's got to avoid three more girls, plus any other women in the store.

Reina coolly slides over to a round rack of night gowns and ducks a bit, feeling a little like Solid Snake as she does so. Oh her kingdom for a box!

The girls eventually spread out, looking at various items and making comments about what would look good on them, what they'd wear for theoretical boyfriends, and other chatter. To prove that things can always get worse, they eventually gather around the same rack as Reina is hiding behind. She climbs into the empty space in the middle, heart racing and hoping they'd ignore the center. But as the poem goes, _things fall apart; the center cannot hold_.

A ringtone, her ringtone, starts to play loudly. A metaphorical "!" pops up over the head of the other girls as their attention gets drawn to the source of the noise. She mutters a quick, quiet, _damn_ and checks the I.D. It's not a number she recognizes. Telemarketers always call when it's a life or death situation. The girls; Misa, Sakurako, and Madoka, slide the clothes apart and peer into the display.

"Reina-san?" asks Misa.

"H-Hello…" Her phone is still ringing. Eventually a message service goes through and Negi's voice comes over the speaker.

"Reina-san, are you there? I really need to speak with you. I hate to ask you this, but there's something in my room I need you to get…" he goes on, but Reina climbs out nervously and beats a hasty exit.

"I wonder what that was about." Misa watches the timid girl quickly leave.

Sakurako adds, "She was in a lingerie store… and Negi-sensei called her." She chuckles, "Victoria's Secret indeed."

"I think," says Madoka, "the both of you might be looking too deep into it."

Red as a beet, Reina rushes along outside, hurrying away from the nightmare of the store she was just in.

"Negi-kun? What's the matter?"

The teacher goes through his problem again. "I'm sorry about asking you this. I know the Ivory Knight isn't a delivery truck."

"It's okay. I am your partner now, aren't I? I'm wrapped up in this whether you want me to be or not. Don't be afraid to ask me for help," Reina tells him. "Anyway, I'll hurry as fast as I can!"

"Thank you Reina-san."

"You're welcome."

* * *

Not 20 minutes later Reina opens the door to Negi's very clean, very well organized, room. She takes a quick moment to look around to find the box he was talking about. Unfortunately, the box is small, metal, and locked. He didn't mention anything about it being locked. She decides it will just be easier for everyone to take it to him.

A knocking comes from the door, followed by Ayaka just walking in.

"Excuse me, Reina-san…"

Reina turns her head and sees the blondie from last night. The horror of their lips pressed against each other's creeps back into Reina's mind. Without a word, she picks up the box and quickly maneuvers out of the room.

Ayaka scoffs, "Hey! I wasn't done talking!"

Reina moves up to a brisk walk in order to get away, keeping the box held tighter to her. Ayaka speeds up too, hoping to get a word with girl she's now chasing.

"Listen, I just want to speak with you about last night!"

"J- Just… Just leave me a- a- lone!" She moves up to a jog.

"But—"

"You k- k- KISSED me!" A slow run.

"About that…"

"No!" A sprint.

The pilot's attempt at avoiding the class representative works well until she gets to the Ivory Knight. The fact that the hatch is closed is the big problem. It gives Ayaka ample time to catch up with the fleeing Reina.

"I really just want to talk! Please listen to me!" Ayaka pleads.

There are any number of directions Reina could run in, but Negi sounded like he was really counting on her and now this. The winch finally comes within reach.

"I- I- I really need to… get this t- to Negi-sensei. I… got to go. Please?" Her last word sounds a little like she is begging.

"You're going to see Negi?" Her face reflects the sudden determination she finds. "I am coming with you!"

"N- no! There isn't enough room."

Ayaka sighs and turns away. "Listen, I want to apologize for kissing you last night. It was all part of stupid game and when you were knelt down… you looked a little like Negi-sensei…" The pilot grabs on to the winch and it starts pulling her up. "So is there enough room now?" After she asks, she turns to see her classmate rising up. "Oh no you don't!" the blonde protests as she jumps up and holds on to Reina's legs.

"Ahh! You idiot! You are going to pull me off the cable! Then we will both fall off!" Worry about her own safety overrides any fear she has at the moment.

Once they are both in the cabin of the mech, Ayaka thinks she has the other girl cornered. The mech's pilot opens a small hatch in the back of the room and puts the metal box inside.

"I wasn't done apologizing!" She seems put-off by Reina's constant rudeness. "Can you please just make some time?"

Reina thinks quickly. "S- Sure… Let me just… sit d- d- down here…" Using the only exit given to her, she sits in the pilot's seat of the metal machine.

"Okay. Now…"

Before the rep can get much farther, Reina, in a well rehearsed and effortless move, hooks both cables to her head at the same time. Straps come down and bind her body safely to the chair.

"Reina-san… What's going on?"

Reina feels more comfortable within the machine. Like the pleasing and reassuring coolness of the other side of the pillow. "Haven't you been paying attention?" comes Reina's voice over the speakers in the cabin. "I really do become a giant robot. Now if you'll keep your head down, I need to get to Negi as soon as I can."

"W- Wait?! We're going to fly in this thing?!"

"What was your first guess?" With that the Ivory Knight steps away from the building, causing a few people to look, and jumps up into the air without coming down right away. "Sit down, shut up, hang on."

The sounds of her engines pitch increasing whines, producing a small white flare as she streaks through the sky.

"Is… Is that our speed?" Ayaka is looking at an ever increasing number in the lower right hand side of the display screen.

"Yes it is."

Ayaka swallows in response and sits down in a corner near the back. "That's… really irresponsibly fast."

"Currently over 320 kilometers per hour and rising," Reina says in response. "I've been able to get myself up to around 1500 but I had everything going for me when I did. And right now isn't the time for play." She can see how uneasy Ayaka seems. "Listen… Just relax. I'm a well tuned machine. I'll keep you and me safe. It's a really short distance so there are no worries."

"I'm fine. Just the thought of the speed is all and maybe a bit of motion sickness. I do not mean to pry into anything, but… What is it like?" Before Reina can answer, Ayaka interrupts. "I'm sorry. I bet you get asked that all the time."

"Yes but don't worry. Even my own father asked me what it is like. I'm one of the only people to know and I don't mind answering. I've only ever been able to equate it to being like a giant toy. My sense of touch is muted, temperature is a number, sight comes in a large number of ranges and flavors, no taste, and no smell. I can still feel pain purely for combat purposes, but I can shut it down if it becomes a distraction."

Ayaka thinks about what she said. "One of the only people? Are there others like you?"

"I had… There was someone, but he's gone now."

"Oh… I'm sorry. I must have sounded insensitive."

"Not at all. I probably should have been a little less grim about it. He's not dead, he just ran away. I know he's alive and well but we have very different views on our abilities."

"So your parents let the both of you…"

"Eh, it's not like that. See, I'm… adopted. Kaminari took us both in, but ran experiments on us. Now that I say it, it sounds bad even though both of us turned out fine. Anyway, they got special clearance from the U.N. to allow for the 'Human Digitalization Frontier Program' which consists of the two of us.

"See, there is a sweeping movement that believes the only way the human race can exist within the harshness of space for any extended period of time; save a sudden, massive, evolution into a new type of human; is to essentially shed our human 'wetware' for something a bit more tolerant to vacuums and cold.

"Once a year, I have to go to New York to the United Nations and get an exam by an independent surgeon and psychologist to make sure there's nothing wrong with me. So far I'm perfectly normal and because of my outstanding results, I'm making a good argument for the advancement of human kind.

"As for my parents, like I said, Kaminari took the two of us in. William Whitehall eventually took us in as his own children shortly after his wife died. He did that since they never had children and because if anything would have gone wrong, he'd take responsibility for it and give us the best care possible. So while he's not my biological father, I love him as if he were."

"What about your brother?" asks the rep solemnly.

"When did I mention a brother?"

"Well, you did kind of in a roundabout way."

Reina laughs. "I guess so. Well, he's a bit extreme in his views on our state and he wants me to think the same way. When he decided he had had enough, he left us.

"We still have our fights when he decides to come around now and again. I just wish he'd come back home and give this up. He's always acting like a kid. I mean, does he really think he's right in all this? Surely there has to be some small part of him that says maybe this is all wrong." Reina realizes she's starting to rant. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to get sidetracked."

Ayaka shakes her head. "It's okay."

"May I ask a question?"

"By all means."

"The timbre of your voice shifted lower when you mentioned a brother. How about you? Got any siblings?"

Ayaka remains quiet for a long time before opening her mouth. "I… had one. Not too long after he was born..."

"I can guess the rest. I'm sorry. I did not intend to pry into any personal business." Outside the machine, the scenery rushes by. They remain quiet until… "I think we're here."

The large white machine hovers in the air over the location where Negi said he was going to be. She looks at various magnifications and different wavelengths. Not over near those trees… Not near that rock… Maybe by that stream? Nope. "I always hate this. Why couldn't this be like a show or something where they meet spot on for writer's convenience? I'm calling them back."

Ayaka watches as several numbers appear on the screen followed by silence. A small circle, that quite obviously displays Reina's radar, shows a pulse followed by a ping further out from center. She turns to face the ping slowly and lists in that direction.

* * *

Negi resolves to rest on the rock a little longer. Its cool flat surface, the cool breeze, and Kaede's lap to lay his head in, provide a comfortable atmosphere. A light sleep enwraps him. They stay there a while, Asuna and Kaede chatting.

Kaede pets his head gently while looking up at the sky. She can hear the distant roar of jet engines accompanying a thunderous rumble, as if a far off storm. This sound doesn't wake Negi however.

Asuna looks in the direction the sound came from.

"That's gotta be her!" Chamo exclaims.

"Where is she?" puzzles Asuna while she looks into the sky around their sudden campsite. Her phone beeps once, prompting her to look at it and open it up. "Weird. Nothing."

Kaede points with her free hand. "There she is."

The large white mech hangs in the air, slowly moving in their direction. Eventually she lands with a metallic thud, whipping up a cloud of dust as she finds a spot to land without knocking down any trees.

Inside, Ayaka catches a glimpse of Negi in the monitor. She practically presses her face up against it. "What did Asuna do now? I swear, every time I see the two of them together, he looks beat up for some reason. Still, he's cute when he sleeps."

Reina says nothing to this and instead opens up the hatch. After yesterday, Reina's view on her teacher changed. "Time to get out." She lowers the winch a bit to get Ayaka's attention.

"It's been lovely talking to you so closely Reina-san. Wait! What about that box Negi-sensei needed?"

"Send Asuna or Kaede up. Preferably Asuna since Negi looks like he's got Kaede wrapped up at the moment."

"Good. I'd like to have a word with Asuna-san first."

Reina ponders this for half a second. The two of them have been quiet since she arrived a little while ago. "Oookay."

Ayaka grabs the metal wire and plants her foot firmly on the foothold. Her blonde hair flows with the wind as she descends.

"Iincho, why the hell are _you_ here?!" Asuna is the first to throw down, shock giving way to seething anger.

"I merely felt like making sure you were taking good care of Negi-sensei. I mean, I've hardly gotten any time with him since this trip started."

"And what are you, his girlfriend?"

"I can't be a concerned student?!" Ayaka asks back, affronted by such a question. "I worry about our young teacher being exposed to physically aggressive students such as you."

"Oh that is the biggest load I've ever heard. And if you're so concerned, then go back to the hotel. You have no idea the situation you've wandered in to."

"I know well what I am seeing!"

"Do you mind keeping it down? Negi-sensei is sleeping." Kaede's voice is soft and forceful. "Or take it somewhere else."

Ayaka huffs and folds her arms. "Fine. But I'm sticking to you three like glue."

"Why am I wrapped up in this?" Reina asks. "Like you, I just got here."

"I'm not taking any chances. "

"By the way Reina-san, did you bring the envelope?"

"Um… weeeeellll… I… I brought the box it was in."

"What do you mean 'the box it was in'?" Asuna asks.

"Could I speak to you privately?" Reina points to the winch to emphasize what she meant.

Without a word, the red head steps on the foot hold and rides up. When she's inside she can see Reina strapped to the chair. Asuna waves a hand across the face of the sitting girl.

"No one's home technically," comes a voice from nowhere as the hatch door closes.

"So you really are the robot. That's kinda awesome."

This leaves Reina speechless for a moment. "I… Uh, thanks. About the letter, it's in the glove box back there. Kinda looks like a laundry chute."

Asuna walks over to exactly where Reina meant. "Here?"

"Yes." The hatch opens to reveal the small black box Negi put the letter in. "I couldn't find any keys. Mostly because I didn't have time to look. SHE," at this point a bright red arrow appears above Ayaka's head in the monitor, "barged in and started talking to me!"

"I meant to ask you about that. Why'd you drag her along?"

"I didn't want to really. Especially after last night."

"What happened last night?"

"She kissed me!"

Asuna can't quite picture that. She shakes her head. "What?"

"I have no idea what was going on, but I was picking up my toothpaste last night and she comes rushing up and just laid one on me." The Ivory Knight visibly shudders. Her passenger has to try and keep her balance. "Oh, I'm sorry. It's just that thought bugs me."

Knowingly, Asuna tells her, "I can understand. But why bring her here?"

"Right! Got sidetracked again. Well, I was grabbing the box," explains the mech, "and she came in to Negi's room, wanting to apologize. I tried getting away, but she kept up until I had to wait to get in here. As I was rising up on the winch, she grabbed on to me! Maybe I should have just let her explain, but Negi sounded like he really needed this, and I didn't want to let him down." The whole time she is tapping her index fingertips together, creating little metallic clicks.

"Well, there's nothing that can be done about it now so don't fret over it."

"Okay. By the way, there seems to be several electric signals approaching. They seem to be mobiles."

"Really? How do you know?"

"Yes, that weird V-shaped thing on the left side of my back is a radar antenna. I can pick up electronic signals with it."

"It's like you're our own Chachamaru. Anyway, if they are hostile, it's good thing you're here. We can explain you to Ayaka, but she doesn't need to be finding out about magic. We've got to do our best to keep others from finding out too."

"Right."

"So are you going to come out of there, or…?"

"No… No I'm good in here. Thanks." Reina sounded like her mind was made up well before being asked.

Asuna takes it for face value, unaware of Reina's issue. "Alright then. I suppose I'll have to wake up Negi so we can get this box open."

"We should open it in here. I know it's just a letter, but in here, there won't be a chance for anyone to steal or find out about it. Trust me, if I don't want anyone in here, they won't get in."

"Makes sense." Asuna goes over to the open hatch and leans out. "Kaede-san, we need Negi to open the box and he has the keys."

Kaede nods and shakes Negi gently. Her voice is barely above a whisper. "I hate to wake you up Negi-sensei, but your box has arrived."

Negi stirs and then opens his eyes slowly. "I'm sorry. Did I fall asleep? Has Reina-san arrived yet?"

"I'm here." Reina waves at him. "You're letter is in here."

"Okay. I'll come and get it." Negi is about to stand up when a certain blond girl speaks.

"I shall retrieve it for you Negi-sensei."

It is now that the exhausted boy sees Ayaka. "Oh, Ayaka-san, I'm fine. I can get it." He wonders why she's here but elects not to ask questions. He stands up and begins the slow amble over to The Ivory Knight.

Reina steps closer to him and kneels down, putting her hand, palm up, on the ground. Asuna holds on to the box closely, while leaning against the wall near the hatch, even though the angle of the room doesn't change much.

Negi climbs up on to the metal hand. The feeling of being in an elevator returns as Reina stands up while bringing her hand to her chest. He climbs in to see Asuna and Reina in the interior.

"Thank you for bringing my letter, Reina-san." Negi bows.

"Hey, it's no problem. I don't mind playing the postman every now and again. But I couldn't find any keys so I had to bring the box it was in."

"There aren't any keys."

Reina can't process that. "But then how… I mean… It looks like there is a tumbler on it."

"That's a deception. Anyone stealing it will do exactly what you did, look for the keys."

Asuna gives him one of those looks. "Couldn't someone just smash it?"

"And ruin this nice box?"

"Not everyone thinks like you!" Asuna advises the boy after hearing his explanation.

"But—!"

"Just open the thing."

Negi puts his finger on the tumbler, twists the mechanism clockwise and slides the whole thing forward. The side of it pops open with a rattling click. He reaches in and takes the letter out. Still safe.

"Reina-san had an idea," Asuna mentions. "She thinks we should keep it in here until we arrive. My thought behind it is, since Ayaka had to go and stick her nose in things if anyone attacks, we can explain Reina easier than 'Oh hey, Negi's a mage'… again."

"That sounds good."

Reina whirls around and flares up her sword. "The approaching targets are within range and moving at walking pace. Do you want me to check it out?"

"Wait. I think Konoka and Setsuna were going to show up soon. How many are there?"

The radar expands to a larger square. "Six. I can get numbers if you think that would help."

"Do it," Asuna tells her.

"Aye aye!"

Numbers scroll along the screen from left to right behind the radar. Larger numbers begin appearing near dots representing the incoming targets. They seem random as they slowly rise from the stream of other numbers and flow over to the radar. Slowly the numbers fill themselves out.

"Oh!" exclaims Asuna.

"What?!" Reina asks while taking a stance, sword glowing a bright pink.

"One of them is Konoka. There's Setsuna!"

Reina shuts her sword off and visibly relaxes. "So… there will be others like Ayaka here?"

"Seems that way," Negi tells her.

Reina groans, but not from what Negi thinks. "More girls…" her processors whine.

* * *

After meeting up, they all walk, save the giant robot which tries its best to be quiet, down the forest path. Eventually, the group comes up to the entrance to the Kansai Magic Association temple. Some of the girls go running up to the doors, prompting the few with pactios to ready them, or in Reina's case, redirects some energy to her sword.

The doors creak open slowly, welcoming them or maybe drawing them in to something more.

"Welcome, Konoka Ojou-sama." A large procession of women greet Konoka Konoe as she enters with her friends.

Many of the others gather around Konoka, discussing the size of her home.

Asuna turns to Setsuna. "Woah… What's going on here?"

"The short version is that while this _is_ the Kansai Magic Association's Headquarters," explains Setsuna, "this is also Konoka-Ojou-sama's home."

"Why is this first I'm hearing of it?!" asks Asuna in shock. Negi is unable to speak as he is gaping at the size of the place before him.

"I thought that she'd be in more danger if we got closer. But that was proven not to be true as the attack in Cinema Town showed. Once we are beyond the gates we should be safe."

Konoka approaches Asuna after seeing her outburst earlier. "You're not upset… Are you?"

"No? Why would I be? I just never knew your house was so… big! I mean, there's Iincho's house and then there's this." She elbows her jovially.

Asuna's use of the word _house_ is a bit… ineffectual. Like using the term "Might cause a few small problems," when describing the meteor that killed the dinosaurs. Storybook castle is a far better term to describe her friend's residence, as petal blossoms flutter down to the ground.

Pity those who sweep.

"My place is perfectly large thank you very much, Asuna!" Ayaka fires off.

Reina makes a throat clearing sound.

"Oh!" exclaims Konoka. "You sure you don't want to get out of there?"

Realizing that Negi's important letter is still inside, Reina elects to go back to her own body. The bindings undo themselves when she's returned to her body. After blinking a few times, she sits up and heads back to the storage compartment where the letter is held. With it in hand, the pilot lowers herself down on the winch.

Before she's on the ground, Negi heads over to get the letter.

"Again, thank you Reina-san." He takes the letter gracefully.

Reina smiles apprehensively. "You're welcome… as long as you can keep them at a distance." She points over to the other girls.

"You won't—"

"Yeah, I know… but still."

"I'll do what I can."

The entire trip inside Negi and Reina walk a distance apart. This fact doesn't go unnoticed by the ever sharp eye of Yue.

"Hey Nodoka," she whispers.

"What?"

"Look. You notice they aren't walking near each other? And did you see the look on her face when she handed him that letter? I think something happened between them," observes the small philosopher. "You could still have a good chance Nodoka."

Nodoka turns her usual red when the thought of Negi.

* * *

They find themselves kneeling in the main foyer of the castle, waiting for patiently for Konoka's father to arrive.

"Sorry to keep everyone waiting," says someone from the stairs. This person soon gets to the bottom step, revealing his thin face and glasses. It speaks of his age and experience. "Welcome home Konoka. And welcome to Asuna-kun, your teacher Negi-sensei, and all your friends."

Konoka rushes up and latches on to the man. "Dad! I've missed you this whole time."

"It's good to see you too Konoka." He puts his arm around her in a fatherly hug.

"So her father is the chief of the west?!"

"What's that Negi-sensei?" asks Ayaka from beside the boy.

"Err… Um… It's nothing, Ayaka-san."

Asuna gasps at Konoka's father. "He's so… sophisticated! Could it be that…!"

Some of the others begin to groan at her reaction.

"Wow Asuna… He's your friend's father. You really don't have any limits, do you?" Ayaka asks.

"What was that cradle robber?!"

Ayaka simply gives her a glancing look. "No man would want to go out with someone who reacts like that."

"Now, now children. Have some respect."Kaede told the two warring sides with a wink.

Konoka's father smiles a little. "Such a lively bunch."

Negi swallows his nerves and speaks up. "I… have a letter for you Chief-san from Konoemon Konoe, Principal of Mahora and the Chief of the East."

"Thank you very much Negi-kun. I was expecting this to come for a while now. I hope it wasn't too hard for you to bring it here."

"No. Not at all."

Konoka's father opens it and takes a look at what is written inside. "Filled with his usual vim and vigor I see. Well, when you get back, tell him we accept his offer and will work with him to eradicate our differences. You've done very good, Negi Springfield-kun."

Negi is left speechless as he feels a massive sense of accomplishment. Within moments he is surrounded by girls heralding this fact… even if they have no clue as to what is going on.

"It will be almost dark by the time you get down from here, so you can all stay here for tonight. I'll even have a feast prepared for the occasion." When he mentions this, many of the girls seem up for the feast.

"But if we don't get back…" Negi argues.

"Don't worry. Copies can be sent back, and at the very least I can make a simple phone call."

Reina approaches the older man with a look of embarrassment on her face. "Um… excuse me. I'd hate to ask this…"

"Yes?"

"See, my other body… er, my robot is sitting outside the walls and if we are staying here… Is there anywhere inside I can park it?" Before he can answer, she quickly follows with, "If not please don't go out of your way or anything. I can easily go back to the hotel and stay there. I don't want to be a burden."

"There's a nice place surrounded by trees just outside the window here. You should be able to see it."

With a very big bow, Reina thanks him and leaves.

"So she's the pilot of that machine… We were wondering what that large thing was doing."

"Actually," corrects Negi, "she _is_ the machine."

* * *

Later that night, after the feast has passed, Reina hits the bath, trying to relax the fail of the day away.

However, Negi and Eishun, as they all learned his name was, are already in there. They are discussing the events that have happened on the trip.

"So what's up with the monkey woman?"

"Chigusa Amagasaki. She's got this thing against European Mages. She's a real problem, what with all the kidnapping and saber rattling she does."

"Why did she try and kidnap Konoka then?"

With a sigh, Eishun answers his question. "She's looking for a battery."

"A battery?"

"Well," her father says, "certainly you've realized that Konoka, as a member of the Konoe family, has incredible magic potential. The power dormant within her rivals that of even your father, The Thousand Master.

"If that power could be controlled there's no telling what one could do with it. I'd say it'd be no leap to believe that one could take over the west and attack the east. We had sent Konoka to Mahora for protection and to keep it from even Konoka herself."

"I see. May I ask how you knew my father?"

"Ah… Your father and I were really close. That idiot and me were best friends!"

They hear the door opening and recognize the shape on the other side as feminine. They hop out of the water and hide behind a rock.

They see Reina enter and close the door behind her. After putting the plugs in the connections behind her ears, she slides down into the pool. The entire time, Eishun has an arm in front of his face.

"This is quite a spot we've gotten ourselves into, isn't it?" asks the older man.

"Well…" Negi half argues. "See, I'm sure she wouldn't care if we went to the door."

"Oh?"

"She's…" Negi tries to dance around the subject without spilling what he shouldn't, "more relaxed around men than you think."

"Erm…"

Negi turns red. "I didn't mean it like that. It's just that she's told me in passing that boys don't bother her much."

"I suppose…"

"Let's just try. At the very most, we'll end up having to explain ourselves."

"You're right. I just feel weird being half naked in front of a teenage girl is all."

Negi stands up slowly with his eyes covered by his hand. "Excuse me, Reina-san?"

She has a brief initial bad reaction, mostly because she thought she was alone. "Oh! Negi-kun. What are you doing behind the rock? You weren't trying to peep, were you?"

"Ah!" Negi almost drops his hand to wave it and the other one in front of himself but stops himself at the last moment. "No. Eishun-san and I were relaxing when we saw what ended up being you. We were hoping we could get to the door without you being mad."

"I was hoping," Reina explains, "there wasn't anyone was in here. It's fully my fault. I'm sorry."

"You intentionally came in here without checking?" Eishun asks from behind his arm.

"I did, yes."

"May I ask why?"

Before Reina can open her mouth, two more voices can be heard, both female. Reina grabs a towel and joins the other two in hiding.

"Wait. Why are you hiding?" Eishun whispers, still averting his eyes from the girl.

"Promise you won't laugh?"

"Yeah."

"I'm… I'm afraid of girls."

Eishun thinks for a moment. "But… You… How does that work?"

"I don't know! It just does!"

Setsuna and Asuna come into the room and begin to enjoy the hot water themselves.

"I guess that explains why Negi said you were more relaxed around men."

"Negi!"

"I'm sorry! I didn't mean for it to sound like that."

Setsuna turns and looks in the general direction of the rocks. "Did you hear something?"

Asuna ignores it. "Probably just the breeze."

The two bathing girls continue talking while the other three hold up behind the large enough stone.

Reina asks Eishun, "This place is big enough, why aren't there at least two places like this, or maybe perhaps an occupied sign?"

"I never really saw the need. This hasn't happened before."

"Reina-san, can I ask you a huge favor." She knows right where this is going. "Could you distract them long enough for us to get past them?"

Her heart increases in speed as she thinks about it. "I… I'd really rather not."

"Think of it," Eishun tells her, "as doing me a huge favor. I'll owe you big time then."

Negi adds, "Me too."

She takes a moment to steel her nerves, and begins walking over to the two girls.

"Oh, Reina-san. What were you doing over there?" asks Asuna.

"Dying," Reina mutters.

"What did you say?"

"Oh…" Reina swallows to keep her nerves from getting her. "N- Nothing." She nervously toddles over to the corner opposite of the rock in the room and gets back in the water.

Setsuna asks, "Are you okay? You seem… nervous."

"Right a… as r- rain."

When Negi and Eishun see their chance, they take it, sneakily sliding over to the door. They both look back and issue the scared girl thumbs up. Without looking at the door, Negi reaches for the handle, not really thinking about hand placement. When he touches the door, it feels… softer. He briefly thinks about those things they put on doors to keep you from using your knuckles when you try to get the attention of those inside.

He faces the door only to see his hand… cradling Ayaka's right… Well he doesn't even think about it too long before screaming bloody murder!

This calls the attention of everyone in the room. Several girls scream in response, Konoka thinks her father is a pervert, Reina wants to die, and Ayaka… well she didn't really mind in the end.

* * *

As night settles in, Asuna and Konoka walk down the hallway. It's unusually quiet within the castle, allowing their soft footfalls to be clearly heard. The cherry blossoms fall down around them as Asuna begins to speak.

"Okay, here's the thing Konoka…"

"Hmm? Yes?"

"...Never mind."

Konoka gets one of her usual super cheerful looks. "You're getting weird on me, Asuna. So, do you have any idea what Se-chan wants to talk about?"

Before she can answer, a loud, thumping crash comes from one of the nearby rooms. Asuna and Konoka run over to the door of the room and slide it open.

Asuna asks the darkness "Is anyone in here?"

"Everyone okay?" Konoka adds.

Inside there's nothing but the words of stone shaped as flesh and bone. Statues of the house staff fill the room, anguished looks frozen on their faces as they tried to struggle to the door as the moonlight shines into the room.

* * *

Father away, Negi stumbles across a similar situation with Nodoka, Haruna, and Kazumi. He immediately flips into panic mode as thoughts about the last time people he knew got turned to stone.

"Come on aniki, now's not the time to lose it!" Chamo orders, "Listen, all we've got to do is get Eishun to unpetrify them. But for now, we've got to get ready. This is obviously an attack by the rogues and it isn't any time to crack under pressure!"

"That… That shouldn't be possible! We're at the headquarters." He buries his head in his hands.

"Well, it has happened and there isn't much we can do about it right now."

"Asuna-san and the others! What about them?!" He goes rushing off, opening doors looking for his other students. After a streak of nothing but monuments, he remembers the cards.

He draws Asuna's card and places it to his head.

Asuna suddenly hears a voice in her head. "Negi? What's going on?! Oh, damn." She places the card to her head and utters, "Telepathia."

"(Negi, are you okay? I'm with Konoka right now and we just came across a room full of statues.)"

A weight lifts off his shoulders as he hears her voice. "(Yes, I'm fine. Listen, the enemy is here and they are after Konoka. We need to meet up so head for the bathroom from before.)"

"(Right.)"

"Asuna, what's going on?" Konoka asks.

Placing her hands on Konoka's shoulders and getting in her face, Asuna explains, "Pay attention, there are some very bad people coming for you. We are going to try and escape and get you to safety."

"The group from Cinema Town this afternoon?"

"Exactly as. But that won't be a problem because I'll protect you." She activates her artifact.

* * *

After calling his staff, Negi meets up with Setsuna, both reacting before they see and almost attack each other. Before much can be said, the slowly changing form of Eishun steps out of the darkness.

"Negi… kun… Set… suna-kun…" When they see him, both kids gasp and rush to him. "It seems my faith in the barriers was ill placed. But it had been so peaceful as of late that I dropped my guard. As a close friend of the Thousand Master, I am ashamed."

"Chief!" shouts Setsuna.

"Listen you two… Look out for… a boy with white hair… He's no ordinary magic user… A… whole different level…" His last words were incredibly coarse. "Not so easy… breaking the barrier. Tell the principal… I'm sorry. And please… take care of… Konoka."

The magic resolves itself on him and fully converts him to stone.

With their hearts set on ending this, the two leave the stone man behind.

* * *

Yue hustles through the castle after being sent away by Kazumi during the initial attack. Nodoka had gotten turned to stone as well, along with Haruna.

She runs down the hall, hoping to find a safe place. She soon runs into Ayaka.

"Iincho-san, come on! Follow me!"

"But what the heck is going on? Everyone's turning to stone!"

"I don't know, but we need to find someplace to hide."

Something dawns on Ayaka. "While we were sitting in the forest, before you guys arrived, I overheard Negi, Asuna, and Reina talking. Reina had mentioned that the inside of that machine of hers is quite well defended. So long as we can find Reina-san and luck out that she's not like the rest."

They eventually make their way to the spot Reina parked the Ivory Knight earlier. They see that the hatch is open, which is a good thing… or does it mean that the enemy has gotten there first. The winch is also down.

"Nothing ventured, nothing gained!" Yue says as she grabs a hold of the winch. Ayaka does the same as Yue smacks the up button on the controls. The two of them rise up and find the cabin to be… empty. There are a few blankets and a pillow near one of the sides. On top the mess is a remote control.

"She must have been sleeping in here… and watching television."

"Then where is she now?"

Yue looks out the hatch door and into the inky night. "She's probably a statue if we go by everyone else."

* * *

Reina is not in fact a statue, but rather, she's coming back from using the toilet. Unlike the other girls, she's dressed in a simple tank top and a pair of sleep pants. As she walks back to the Knight, she finds the bathroom with the light on. She slides the door open and peers inside to find Asuna striking a familiar white haired boy over the head with a large fan.

For once in her life, Reina gets courageous enough to willfully approach girls. Or maybe it was angry… Yeah, let's go with angry.

"You rat bastard!" She gives Fate a shoulder strike that would have made Wario proud.

Fate kips up into a better position to grab Konoka. He pulls out a strip of paper and activates the spell written on it. With an explosion of magic power, Asuna's clothes rip to shreds and Reina falls to the floor unconscious. "You're not fit to be a princess's guardian."

A demon rises up out of the shadows and latches on to Konoka, something he seems to enjoy doing, and really it's all about job satisfaction. Konoka shrieks in response.

Fate calls upon the water spirits, making an abomination of liquid hands rise up from the pool and clutch the naked Asuna, tickling her while they hold her down.

"Why always me?!" she asks between giggle fits.

With an eyebrow raised, Fate turns around and looks at a book. "_I must not have gotten that one right…_" he thinks.

"No matter," he tells her coldly. "I made the spell not work on her and instead simply knocked her out," he explains while pointing to Reina, "but how did you resist? It certainly wasn't your artifact. No, this was something more. How did you do it?"

"I have no idea, you perverted little…" She can't finish due to the laughing spasms.

With a snap of his fingers, Fate intensifies the tickling. "Fine with me. Laugh until you're dead."

"Come on!!! I… I really don't have any idea what… Hahahahah!!! What you are talking about! Please! I can't breathe!"

With Asuna busy at the moment, Fate walks back over to Reina. "Where's your card? This won't work without it." He grunts in frustration. "Looks like you get a reprieve."

Turning to water, he dissolves without leaving a trace behind.

Setsuna and Negi burst into the room, seeing Asuna and Reina sprawled out on the floor. The teacher heads for Reina and Setsuna heads for the naked Asuna.

"Reina! Wake up! Come on…"

Setsuna has an easier time with the still conscious, and still naked, Asuna. "What happened here?"

Through a groan, Asuna replies, "It's over for me… She didn't have her pactio card she made with him so he left her."

"What did he do to you? Was it something… sick?"

Negi turns red and goes back to trying to wake the white haired girl.

"NO!" Asuna blusters. "But I'm sorry… They got Konoka. I wouldn't doubt that he's still around," she warns.

As if answering the call, Fate rises up from nowhere and strikes Setsuna. Being a well trained warrior, Setsuna, unable to block it completely, turns the blow from a kill move to merely highly damaging. Like an Old West bullet, she ricochets off of the wall behind her and then the wall to her left, ending up in a pile on the floor.

"Setsuna-san!!!" Negi screams as he witnesses her hitting the second wall. He gives the white haired boy a deadly look.

Fate gives him a soul piercing look in return. "Could it be…"

"What have you done with Konoka-san?"

"_Fate,_" he thinks. "_Chief-san mentioned him. He's taken Konoka and wants Reina too… The boy with the white hair he warned me about._"

After Fate refuses the question Negi warns him. "You've petrified everyone, hit Setsuna-san, kidnapped Konoka-san, pactioed with Reina-san, did who knows what to Asuna-san… Being what I am… I CAN NEVER FORGIVE YOU!"

To add emphasis to this, Chamo extends his middle finger.

"And just what do you think you can do? You certainly won't be able to defeat me. It would be a mistake to try." He begins to liquefy again. "Right now…" Negi begins to run at him. "You can't even touch me."

_Splip!_

Chamo hops down and looks at the puddle. "Aniki, he used the water as a gate… It's teleportation. This is high level stuff."

With a grunt… Negi grabs a towel.

"Asuna-san, are you okay?" asks Setsuna.

"Uh-huh. What about you?"

"I'm fine." The towel that Negi had grabbed drapes around her.

"Wait here. I'm going to go retrieve Konoka-san. If you find some clothes or something, take Reina to the Ivory Knight. If she was right, it's a very safe place to be."

"I'm coming with you! I should be able to— Urf!" Setsuna holds her arm to her side.

"You're not okay at all!"

"It's fine, really."

"Let me see it. If it's minor, I can heal it."

Inhaling slightly as she lifts her shirt a little, Setsuna watches as Negi's hand glows. "It's good enough for now. We have to go get Konoka-san."

"You can't rush in there recklessly," Chamo advises. "That kid's some kinda super mutant." He snaps his fingers. "I got it!"

"Yes?"

"What is it?"

"Setsuna-nee-san… Aniki… Do you like him?"

Setsuna turns red. "And that has to do with what?"

"I need you to lay a big ol' smooch on him!"

"That isn't gonna help at all!" Asuna says as she crushes him.

Screaming, Chamo explains, "A… A contract! That was what I meant!"

"Ooooh!"

"You see, Setsuna-nee-san can use Ki, so adding magic should multiply."

"But every second wasted is one that lets the trail go cold," Setsuna replies.

Negi agrees heartily. "Yeah."

"Come on Negi-sensei! We can't wait forever!"

"Right. Let's go!"

As they both rush out of the room, they bid goodbye to Asuna.

From behind her someone asks, "Looks like I'm a little late. Need some help?"

* * *

"Good work newbie," lauds Chigusa. "I should have left it to you from the start since you practically walked right through that barrier." The group of kidnappers, demons, and kidnapper demons stand out on a rock overlooking a lake. "Now we just have to take her there and we've won this war."

Fate says nothing about his accomplishment.

Konoka wiggles and screams a muffled scream from behind the duct tape over her mouth.

"Now now." Chigusa taps her nose. "We won't harm you in any manner… Now to the altar!" Oh yeah, that's comforting. She is about to reach into her sleeve when someone shouts from behind her.

"Stop right there, criminal scum!" shouts Setsuna. "Give us Ojou-sama back!"

"You again, huh…"

"Reinforcements are coming tomorrow to arrest you. It'd just be easier to just surrender now."

"Tomorrow? Fu fu fu! I'll be long gone at that point kid. Well," she tells them as she hops down and stands on the surface of the water, "whatever… I think it's time for a demonstration, one that'll leave you wishing you were stone statues back at the headquarters."

With a snap of her fingers, Konoka begins to glow. Chigusa starts chanting a spell which causes columns of light to rise from the lake. Soon, a massive hoard of demons, numbering over one hundred of them, encircled the trio.

After taunting them, Chigusa takes her leave.

All three stand back-to-back-to-back. The first to make a move is Negi as he sets up a barrier of wind, halting the demons in their tracks.

* * *

Before they left to get Asuna some clothes, Kaede happened upon them. Using her pactio, Kaede was able to provide Asuna with some clothes on-the-spot.

"Can I ask you a favor, Kaede-san. Would you take Reina back to the Ivory Knight?"

"I can do that."

"Join up with us if you wish. We could always use the extra strength."

Kaede nodded and put Reina's arm over her shoulders and began walking along with her.

Now that Kaede has hauled Reina to the Knight, there remains the business of getting her in. The hatch is open but there is no way for her to climb up there since the surface is too smooth.

"Kaede-san?" asks a voice from above.

Kaede looks up to see Yue. "Yue-dono… Could you send that thing down?"

Yue doesn't delay a moment when it comes to clicking the down button.

When it's down, Kaede tries her best not to drop Reina as they rise up to the open hatch. She gets a little help from Ayaka and Yue to get in as they pull her since she can't move either of her arms.

"Thanks."

Without warning, a slight beeping comes from the cabin as well as an increase of lights. The screen Reina had been previously watching television on turns back on.

A black background bears green text.

"Well, it started up… Now what?" asks Ayaka.

Kaede answers with, "Do you think it would be safe to hook her up?"

"I can't say," Yue replies. "Firstly, I don't know how that works. Secondly, with her being out like this, would it even be possible?"

"I know how it works," Ayaka says. "I saw her attach these two wires behind her head."

"Okay. Well… Should we attempt this? I can only guess there's the possibility that we could utterly destroy her mind."

"I have to go, no matter the result," Kaede states.

"What's going on?" asks the rep.

"I can't say."

"But—!"

"Now's not the time to argue." Kaede turns and sees the screen Reina had been using to watch television is on and that the Ivory Knight seems to be contacting Kaminari.

"Hello! Reina-sama, are you okay?" comes a voice over the speakers a little under a minute later. "Sensors say you're unconscious."

Kaede speaks to the voice. "Yes. She's out cold."

"Who is this? What are you doing in there?"

"I- I'm Kaede Nagase, a classmate of Reina-san's."

"A... a girl? Well, my name's Daiki Yamada with Kaminari Grand Industrial. What's going on? What happened to Reina-sama?"

"We don't know."

"Well I can wake her up. If you can, just place her in the chair."

Yue interrupts. "Is that safe?"

"Another girl? Wow… As far as being safe… For her, it'll be like having a splitting headache if she remains in her body, but even then we can dull it if she remains. It should pass quickly though."

Ayaka and Kaede heft Reina into the pilot's chair. Two cables drop down and come to a stop near the pilot's head.

"Okay, now there are two connection points on her head, one behind each ear. Just insert them and stand back."

They both grab one and do as instructed.

* * *

"ANIKI! It's over there! I can FEEL it. A summoning spell of a extraordinary magnitude! Whatever they are calling… it's huge!

As they get in range, they can see Chigusa channeling Konoka's magic. A great glowing column of energy rises up, touching the stratosphere. As Negi flies in to whisk Konoka from the clutches of monkey themed evil, he can sense something coming from behind him. Four of what can only be described as "wolf missiles" close in on Negi. Thinking swiftly, he reflects them, but not enough to prevent being knocked off his staff.

He maneuvers it towards himself and lands before he can become paste.

"Nice to see you again. I'm lucky that we get to have a rematch so soon." With a fist, Kotaro announces, "You aren't getting past me."

* * *

Chigusa's chant rises to a fevered crescendo, and after she shouts a few more words, a massive beam of light fires down upon the massive stone in the shrine. Her arms outstretched, she looks upon the beam.

"Is this almost over?" Fate asks from behind her.

"Keep your damn pants on."

Fate looks off into the distance. "He's coming?"

"Not that kid again!"

Out on the lake, sheets of water spray out from the surface of the lake as the air Negi disrupts plays physics with the water.

Chigusa groans.

"Continue. I'll take care of it." Using another tag, he summons a demon. "Rubicant. Stop him." He points out at the lake.

The demon nods and heads over to the incoming mage. In response Negi activates a contract with himself for one second. It's all he needs to tear a hole in the demon, sending it back to the oblivion it came from. He fires a spell into the water, causing a violent eruption of water.

Fate raises his arm up to keep the mist out of his eyes.

"What's that stupid kid up to? Trying to hide?" asks Chigusa while the vapor starts to soak her clothes.

Fate raises his hand up for an attack, but all that goes by is Negi's staff. He turns to see Negi flying at him, fist reared back for a punch.

However, when Negi swings, the fist doesn't even make contact, instead being stopped by Fate's barrier.

"What did I tell you earlier?" Fate asks Negi. "You're boring… What I can't figure out is why someone like you who isn't good with close range combat would choose to strike me at close range. Being the son of the Thousand Master has given you nothing. I over estimated you."

"Wow… did you ever fall for it," taunts the ermine.

With an incredible amount of force, Negi lands a magical binding spell on the white haired boy in front of him. They exchange words before Negi grabs his staff. As Chamo gives Fate a parting middle finger, something drops out of the sky and dashes along the surface of the water, making the same kind of waves as Negi did.

"Her…" Fate remarks.

In no time, Reina is hovering above the lake as the water she stirred up splashes over the area.

"_Okay… I'm sick of getting soaked!_" complains Chigusa, out of earshot of everyone.

Negi takes the opportunity to go and rescue Konoka.

"…Why?" Reina asks the captive Fate.

Fate chooses to remain silent.

Negi reaches the altar where Konoka was bound earlier only to find her not there.

"You're late… The ritual is finished."

A large glowing, four-armed demon rises from the lake where the stone once sat, the lake water sloshing off of it in great rivulets.

"It seems the spell was a stunning success. 'Ryoumen Sukunanokami' the Great Two Faced, Four Armed, Demon God. It seems he's even larger than the legends state."

"He's no big deal," taunts Reina from behind Negi. "I've taken down bigger!"

Chigusa gets a confused look on her face. "And who are you?"

"I'm the girl this little twerp kidnapped!" She pointed down at the bound Fate.

She gets visibly angrier. Shouting, Chigusa asks, "Did I not tell you to stick to the plan?!"

As usual, Fate says nothing.

"Come on Negi, we can do this together!" Reina says.

"No… Leave this to me!" Negi begins incanting a spell, adding an emphasis to each word.

"Aniki! You should be at your limit! Push yourself too hard and you'll collapse."

Negi apparently decides to ignore him and fires off an impressive beam. But it's not all that impressive since it doesn't leave a mark on the huge demon.

"Is that all the son of the Thousand Master can muster!? You may as well have saved your effort!" Chigusa laughs at the efforts of this one small boy.

Reina brings up the missile pod on her back. The flaps on its top open and out fly three missiles, all of which make contact. Three explosions rush the surface of the monster which makes it only step back a little.

"So it's not going to be that easy, huh?" Reina asks rhetorically. She dashes across the surface of the lake and begins punching the monster. "I won't fire if Konoka is there. There'd be too much of a chance of injuring her. I can control where the missiles go at least."

Meanwhile, the bonds of Fate break, allowing him to move again. He walks deliberately slowly towards Negi. "I shan't kill you. But those who face me had better be prepared to get hurt. You did well after all, pushing your physical and magical limits to their extremes." He holds his hand out in front of himself, preparing to fire a spell off.

"Now Aniki!" orders Chamo.

"Summon! Ministra Negi, Asuna Kagurazaki, Setsuna Sakurazaki!"

Two circles appear on the floor, light emanating from them. Asuna and Setsuna fade into existence on those spots, their weapons drawn and ready to fight.

"I'm… I'm sorry. Konoka is…"

"What the HELL is that thing!?"Asuna asks of the demon behind her.

"What is your plan now?" Fate questions the boy mage. It's too late when they realize he's reciting a spell. A massive blast rocks the area, sending smoke everywhere. As the smoke settles, all he can see is the demon and the machine fighting it.

The trio gathers a short distance away and begins assessing the toll this fight is taking.

"Negi-sensei, your hand…" Setsuna notices.

"'Is perfectly fine' is the end of that," the boy finishes for her.

Setsuna looks at the absolute behemoth in the distance. "Please leave you two. I'm going to go rescue Ojou-sama. Since they are up there, on the giant's shoulder, I should be able to make it if it's just me."

"But how will you make it? If Reina-san could give us a lift, I'm sure we could all make it."

"No. This is my duty," Setsuna tells them. "I'll have to show my true form and when I do… I'll have to go away. So now…" Suddenly, magnificent wings with the purest white feathers spread from her back and arch into the air as Setsuna shows what she is. "This is me… a monster just like them. But don't get me wrong, please. My desire to protect Ojou-sama is real, it's just that I've never showed her this ugly form because…" A bitter moment of realization hits Setsuna. "I'm afraid of what she would think."

"Even Miyazaki-san is a more courageous person."

Asuna walks up to Setsuna and begins fondling her white feathers. "Ooh… What do you mean ugly? These are pretty." Asuna slaps Setsuna hard on the back, between the wings. "That's for doubting Konoka. For all the time you've watched her, what makes you think she would hate you for something like this?"

"I…You're right."

"Now go on. Negi and I will support you."

"Thank you much." Setsuna flaps her wings and takes off.

Once she gets to a certain height, she can see Reina still hammering away at the demon, boosters constantly firing as she skims along the surface of the water. She doesn't waste time in getting to Konoka. Chigusa sends her two smaller demons out to deal with the incoming Setsuna, but a couple of quick sword strikes make short work of them.

Setsuna grabs her Ojou-sama and wings away from Chisgusa. Konoka's kidnapper grunts in frustration as she turns to look at the two of them flying away. Too focused on that, she doesn't see the Ivory Knight finally maneuver behind her. It comes as a shock when a large metal hand grabs her.

"I was waiting for someone to move her… Now…" Reina tosses Chigusa out into the lake and boosts back, "I don't have to worry about hurting anyone when I go full force on this demon!"

She levels her rifle as her the shoulder pods and pod on the back open up. Six missiles and many rounds of rifle ammo strike the large demon. Reina doesn't move any of her targets, having seen enough anime to know better than to believe you've taken down the boss with one attack. It does as she predicts, forcing the mech girl to fire at it some more. Nothing seems to be working as it quickly connects with a rarely seen move, the Double Hammerblow, which is only performable by two people or one four armed person.

This knocks Reina back quite a distance, causing her to land amongst the trees near the lake, snapping a few off and scarring a big chunk of land. She stands up, assessing damage. Nothing that bad, just the missile pods are now inactive.

"They weren't working anyway…" She flares up her sword and boosts back into battle.

When she gets close enough, it grabs her and gets a good grip. It clutches her left arm and begins pulling on it like she was a lobster. Quickly, she disengages the arm, forcing a maintenance style detach. Usually she is outside of it when this happens, immediately finding out that it hurts like hell. The scream that is heard is unsettling. Setsuna and Konoka look back as the demon tosses the limb over to the same spot it knocked her earlier. It does the same with her left leg, making her do another detach. When it's done with play time it tosses her over near her limbs.

"_Is there really nothing I can do?_"

* * *

Negi makes the mistake of looking back as well, allowing Fate to try and take advantage of the opening. Before he can connect, a small hand with very well manicured nails stops his fist dead cold. "You were thinking of damaging something of mine?"

Fate looks down at the arm's owner with a strange look of shock on his face.

Rising up from the shadows, Eva strikes Fate hard enough to make him skip along the surface of the lake like a flat rock.

"E- Evangeline-san!" exclaims the two kids.

"Consider this as making us even." She seems distracted for a second before she says "Do it!"

A large sphere surrounds the giant demon, preventing it from moving. It tears at the barrier, looking directly at Chachamaru while it does.

"Chachamaru-san too?"

"I'm amazed at how long you've lasted, but at the same time, you've got a long road ahead," reviews Eva. "Okay, I don't have a PowerPoint presentation, but it's really simple… In a large scale fight as this, the mage is really nothing more than a weapon. In other words, go big or go home. You charge a massive spell while your partner protects you.

"With that, I'll leave to show you my ultimate power… I really want you to see this so pay attention!"

"I think she's still mad about losing," comments Asuna.

"Yep."

She begins incanting her spell, while the barrier slowly wears away. When it does, jagged pillars of ice shoot up through the massive demon. It jerks and thrashes and it gets impaled multiple times from all angles.

"I am the darkness that flaps in the night…" shouts Eva.

More and more ice envelopes the colossal beast, eventually encasing it fully. With a snap of her fingers, the monster shatters into any number of ice shards, blocks, and chunks, creating great waves as they fall into the water below.

"Bill's in the mail" comments Eva as she turns around.

Both Chachamaru and her land to the sounds of Negi and Asuna's approval.

"But what about the curse?"

"That is being handled by a high-order ritual. The dean must sign one permission slip every five seconds in order to keep the barrier spirits satisfied."

"In order to assure Konoka's safety, he's agreed to sign them until we are done sightseeing tomorrow."

* * *

Farther away, back in Mahora, Konoemon Konoe is stamping away. Page after page, sheet after sheet.

"_Just keep stamping old man._"

"This is elderly abuse."

"_I'm older than you so keeping me locked up is elderly abuse. And besides, you love your granddaughter, so think of her safety._"

He continues grumbling for quite a while but Eva blocks him.

* * *

The morning of the next day arrives as the battle remains a fresh memory. Kaminari technicians arrive, thanks to a call placed by Eishun, to reconnect the jettisoned limbs. It's not until then that Reina can exit. With the way it landed last night, she is unable to get out until they get everything fixed. When she is out, she is able to call her father.

"I'm sorry dad… I kind of got into a fight… and I lost."

"Reina, remember this: I am your father. My number one priority is to make sure you're safe. Let the Ivory Knight get trashed so long as you aren't hurt. In fact, I should be the one apologizing. We never thought you'd be in it during maintenance so we never set it to turn off pain reception when the limbs are taken off like that. I hope you'll forgive me for that."

Reina nods. "Of course I will. I owe you so much."

"You owe me nothing. How much longer will you be in Kyoto?"

"A couple more days I think. I was told by my roommate, but I wasn't really paying attention."

"That's fine. Just try to take it easier on yourself."

"Okay. Goodbye."

"Goodbye."

* * *

The rest of the trip finishes up exactly as it should. Kazumi takes a lot of photos, Ku-Fei eats a lot of nikuman, the twins play dress-up, and Negi?

Well... he, at the behest of Evangeline, goes sightseeing to find his father's old summer home and digs into memories of the past and about his father.

Eventually the end of the trip arrives and the train station is a mass of activity and chaos as students try and find their way to the appropriate car. Reina, however is hovering above the depot, waiting for the train to leave. The train soon leaves with the white mech flying along above it.

Feeling a whim, she decides to place a call. Inside the car, Asuna's phone rings.

"Hello Reina-san."

"Can I speak to Negi?"

"Sure," she says and hands the phone off. Under her breath, she mutters "Figures."

"Hello?" Negi answers.

"Can I ask you something?"

"By all means. What?"

"Is it always like this in your class?"

"Not always. This was just a really exciting moment. I don't think it will always be like this."

* * *

She's coming back! She's coming back! And there are two new ones as well! Oh fortune is smiling on me. I can't wait!

**Negima: Femella Intra Machina Chapter 08: End**

**The End of the Chapter Stuff:** Still there? Cool. Well, the Kyoto arc is done. So what will be happening next chapter now that everone is back at Mahora, especially now that certain parties have found themselves within the school grounds? Who knows with the barely controlled chaos that is Class 3-A?

This chapter's musical fuel was "Daft Punk: Alive 2007," "Justified" by Drea, and the Dr. Steel discography.

**Special Thanks to:** Ansem Man and Midnight Sleeper for proofing. If you get the chance, check out their respecitive projects: "Disgaea: Gehenna's Holy Queen"(found in the Negima Crossovers section under "Disgaea") and "Negima: Fallout."

**Thanks for Reading!**


	9. Think Of Me

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Negima or any of its related characters. They are the property of Ken Akumatsu. All I own are Reina Whitehall, Hisao Ishikawa, Corentin Catherine-Verliane, William Whitehall and any other small OCs that may appear.

**Author's Notes:** This chapter is very Hisao and Corentin heavy. It's also quite dialog focused. To that, I apologize, but I rebut with the fact that they need character development too. There are also a few points in this chapter that test how well you've been paying attention… since the beginning. Speaking of that, it's this fic's one year anniversary!

This is also the second version of this chapter. I was about halfway through the original version when I decided "THIS SUCKS!!!" in screamy, all caps like that. So I started all over again with what you will be reading now. Hopefully, you won't be hearing "THIS SUCKS!!!" in your head.

One more thing… I have no clue how omiais work, so just roll with it.

**Negima: Femella Intra Machina**

**By Dark Dragon Dave**

**Chapter 09: Think Of Me**

For the first time in a week, Reina wakes up in the room she shares with Chisame. Without any plans for the day, she realizes she hasn't gotten to her unpacking yet. Mahora is such a busy place that she hasn't had the time to do much of anything but go to class, dodge females, and fight demons. The thought of the last one leaves a bitter taste in her mouth.

She sits up and remembers that she sleeps above the floor this time. With extra care she hops down to the floor. Turning quickly, she sees that Chisame isn't there. A sigh of relief passes her lips.

Not wasting any time, she grabs a quick bite and dresses, and gets ready to put the room behind her, leaving her still unfinished packing for later. One of these days she is going to have to get to that unpacking… Ah screw it. Chisame's not here, why not take the opportunity? She sighs and sits down in front of her bag.

* * *

Over on the boy's campus, things are shaping up like every morning for Hisao and Corentin. While Hisao enjoys sleeping in, Corentin uses his boundless energy to make them some breakfast. He cracks some eggs into a pan and begins frying some sausage patties. They bought provisions last night, only stocking up on what was needed until they could do some proper grocery shopping.

Several minutes pass after he starts and Hisao still isn't up. The French boy decides to wake him up.

Hesitantly, he puts his hand out. "Hisao Mon…" He shakes his shoulder gently. "I am making breakfast."

Hisao grumbles and rolls to the side facing away from his friend. "A morning person I know you aren't, but we need to visit the girl today."

"She can wait," Hisao slurs and rolls over. "Unnmmf."

"Being a cranky bear is not going to help our schedule for today… we cannot deviate from it."

Thinking to himself, Hisao asks, "_Did you just call me a cranky bear?_"

Hisao arcs his head around. "You're not going to let me get a few moments more, are you?"

His look is scary in the morning but over the few years he's known Hisao, Corentin's become immune. "At least until I have to check breakfast, no."

Heaving a heavy groan, Hisao finally lifts the sheets over him and flips them off to the side. "Damn… Why can't I be paid to sleep all day?"

"Then we would all be well rested and healthier. The world, she will not allow such things."

"Despite your bad Japanese, you sometimes speak a lot of sense." Hisao stands up, causing Corentin to look away.

"The eggs must require tending! I shall do that. And with my Japanese, I try."

Hisao brushes his hair out of the way. "Right. I'm taking a shower."

Just as he is getting ready to enter the washroom, a knock comes from the door. He goes over to it and finds a letter on the floor. Kneeling down, he picks up the plain white envelope and flips it over reading that it's from the Dean they met earlier.

Muttering, Hisao asks, "What the hell does he want?"

"Hisao?" calls Corentin from the kitchen. "Who is it?"

"It's a letter from the old man who runs this place." Hisao stands up and heads over to the kitchen area. When he's within speaking distance, he opens the letter and begins reading.

_Hisao-san and Corentin-san,_

_It has come to my attention that you two are both the same age as my granddaughter Konoka Konoe. Being both eligible, I have arranged an omiai for the both of you. She is quite a cheerful and happy young girl and could…_

The boy groans angrily. "Damn it…"

"What is the problem?" Corentin turns from making breakfast to the letter.

"You want to look at it?"

"No." His tone changes and sounds embarrassed. "I am afraid it must make me very stupid, but I am sure the letters, I would likely not recognize them all."

"It's okay. Hell, I can't speak French. Anyway, basically, it's… a marriage meeting."

Corentin drops the toast he is working on, knife and all, causing butter to splatter out from the impact. He stands with his mouth agape. "No Hisao, you mustn't do such a thing!"

"Oh it's not just me. He has you scheduled for one too."

The French boy stumbles and begins to fall forward. Hisao grabs him before his face can strike the table. "Corentin!? What the hell? Are you okay?"

Corentin looks up at Hisao. "I am… well. The news has taken me by surprise, you know."

Hefting him up, Hisao puts him back on his feet. "Settle down. We simply have to wait around, look at a girl who is probably as ugly as sin, and answer a bunch of moronic questions put forth by a resounding pervert who gets off by pimping out his granddaughter."

"If the worse happens, then what?"

"Simply answer all of the questions in the worst possible way. Make yourself look like the worst possible choice and eventually this whole thing will blow over. But remember; don't say anything that would need you to be sent in for a mental evaluation."

A weak smile crawls upon Corentin's face. "A plan is something you always have."

"Yeah…" the black haired boy says, his voice trailing off as he reads further into the letter. "Your meeting is in an hour and it's at his office. Mine is set for this afternoon. That gives me time to talk to that Chao girl." He crumples up the letter and envelope, tossing it in the trash as he walks back to the bathroom.

* * *

Konoka is sitting nervously at her grandfather's desk, waiting for the arrival of yet another in a small procession of different boys that her grandfather has lined up for her over the years since she's been here. She has always hated these meetings, partially because she hates that her grandfather thinks she can't take care of herself, and for the sign that it means she's growing up.

The knock on the door rings out sounding the beginning of the meeting between Konoka and Corentin.

Peeking his head in a little, he asks, "Bonjour?"

"Hello Verliane-san, please come in." The older man greets.

"Umm… Yes."

Konoka watches the boy enter awkwardly. It seems he is just as nervous she is. Konoka stands up and bows to him. He offers a curtsy in response. When everyone else takes a seat, he does as well. The dean and his granddaughter can both see the boy is highly nervous and uncomfortable.

"Please relax Verliane-san," Konoka's grandfather says in hopes of settling the boys' nerves, "I know it might seem odd to you, but this isn't really anything to worry about."

"Hisao Mon told me about these. I guess I am glad enough that you would find me suitable but…"

A silence falls long enough to become uncomfortable.

"Yes Verliane-san?"

"It is… It is nothing really."

"Okay. Well, I am to understand you are from Brittany in France, is the right?"

With a nod, Corentin agrees. "Up until a few months ago, we had spent our lives in France. Only recently did we move to your wonderful country, for my parents to work in a pharmaceutical company."

The old man strokes his beard. "Are you interested in the field of medicine?"

"No. Also, I would not consider myself a genius. I have a trouble with Japanese so I am not likely a good choice. I am sorry."

"Now now. No one is perfect. I'm sure if you apply yourself, you'll get better. Now, is there anything you'd like to know about Konoka?"

Corentin just looks at Konoka, which makes her slightly uncomfortable. "I… What…" He thinks for a bit longer, obviously struggling with something. "I guess I don't have anything I'd like to ask right now, or at least anything I can think of how to say right."

"Ah… Well, perhaps you can become better acquainted over a date."

The boy's eyes seem to shrink into his head. "D- Date?"

"It's just a harmless little private time for you both to get better acquainted." The elderly gentleman stands up and shuffles them both out of the room. "Get along now you two, have some coffee or something at the Starbooks."

"Starbooks? Is it not supposed to be Star–?" Before he can finish the question, the door to the room is closed.

* * *

The two of them walk along, both feeling rather uncomfortable. A certain someone is following them from outside the view of the boy and keeping an eye on his every move. Konoka looks up at the new boy and can see a familiar look on his face. She seen it every time she's had one of these meetings and she has it now… the faraway look of wanting to be anywhere else but there.

"So…" Konoka is the first of them to speak, "Is there someone else?"

Corentin sparks up. "Ah! I am that easy to read."

The girl's eyes shine and a big grin pops on to her face. "Is she back in France?"

"Well…"

"I think it's wonderful. Far away in a foreign land and your heart is still with someone back in your homeland. Oh I do hope it works out for you," the light hearted girl tells him.

Her cheerfulness is infectious as Corentin finds himself smiling as well. They step into the Starbooks and queue up behind a few other people. When they finally get to the register, Konoka is the first to order. Corentin, on the other hand, can't quite understand the menu. He looks at the various characters and pictures.

"Do you need help?" asks the woman behind the register.

Corentin looks apologetic. "I am sorry. You could consider me to be partially unable to read. I will have what she is having."

The woman at the register inputs their order and Corentin opens his wallet. He hands over a bill larger than the number on the till and gets a smaller note and a few coins in return. He's still not too sure of the money in Japan, knowing not much more than it's called a "yen." He yearns to hold a Franc in his hands again, but even that would be impossible since they recently converted to the Euro. Nothing is ever static, he figures.

Konoka is already sitting down, and stretching, as Corentin takes both drinks to the table.

"So tell me about your girlfriend," Konoka happily chirps as Corentin hands her the drink.

"Eh… Well… She was very cold to me in the beginning and is still kind of that way. She is very passionate about her goals and doesn't seem to focus on much else. I admire her for that, but at the same time I dislike it as it leaves not much time for anything else. And in all truth… I've never said… how I feel."

"What?! You shouldn't have held back! You should have said something. Sometimes, those three words will warm even the coldest hearts. Now that you are here, she'll never know and she'll get attached to someone else!"

Corentin looks down into his drink. "We still keep in contact. But I am afraid of what the response might be. If it is no, and I am sure it would be, then all my feelings will have been for naught."

"Everyone's like that. At the very least, she'll say no and you move on."

"I simply could not do such a thing!" Corentin shakes his red tinged head. "I feel I would just become a nuisance and she would tell me never to speak to her again. I only want to see her succeed in whatever she wants to do. Contentment I feel for being a cheerleader, I guess."

"She means a lot to you, doesn't she?" Konoka is leaning forward, with a smile on her face.

Embarrassed, Corentin asks, "Can we change the subject? I feel like I am dumping a lot on you when it would be rude for me to do so."

"Okay. I know it's none of my business but I'd like it if you told her how you feel."

Musing, the boy says, "Ce n'est pas mon endroit à aimer…"

Konoka lights up. "That was awesome… What does it mean?"

"It was nothing," heaves the boy and sips his chilled coffee drink.

* * *

Reina begins by opening up her suitcase. One of the first things she notices is that it smells like home. She takes out a few of her pants and shirts, placing them off to the side. They'll reach the drawer when they get there. Next is a few of her undergarments.

"I really have been living out of these things since I got here. Save the Kyoto trip." With that, she realizes how pathetic it sounds. "Life at home was so much easier."

Once she moves her delicates over to their own pile, she next takes out the heavy thing in the bottom. She lifts out a shiny red toolbox. With a thud and some metal rattles, she sets it down. Its brilliant color distracts her momentarily, making her look inside. She opens the lid and looks at the instruments inside.

One of the tools inside is a crescent wrench and the memories that come with it.

* * *

Two kids play inside a hanger near a couple of large metal machines. Both children look like they are working, but they are clearly laughing. Their father is there with them, watching them as they mess around with a few metal parts and stuff and making sure they don't do anything dangerous.

"I bet," says the boy, "if I take this metal plate here and attach these wheels like so…" He reaches down and grabs a crescent wrench. With a constant swinging motion on each nut, he quickly adds wheels to the metal piece. He tosses it on the ground and it moves around a bit before coming to a stop. "There. Makeshift skateboard. Try it out Reina."

The smaller, white haired girl stands on the metal object and has a hard time keeping balance on the oddly made toy causing her to slip off, landing funny on her ankle. She drops harder to the floor and curls over, bringing her leg up and holding her little ankle. The pain is too much to handle and she begins to cry loudly.

He is the first at her side. "Reina are you okay?! I'm sorry! I didn't think it would… Did you break it? I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Tears begin to well up in his eyes too.

The father bolts up right after she slips off. "Wait with her there. I'll call the medical division to get her."

The boy nods in agreement. "I'm really sorry Reina."

"I- I- It's" she hiccups through the tears, "o- okay."

When the medical division arrives, the boy helps pick his sister up as they take her to the van.

* * *

Reina takes the wrench and puts it back inside the box, sighing as she does so. She stands up and puts her clothes in her drawer. The toolbox gets placed on top of the dresser until she can find a better place for it.

As she puts her clothes in, she notices the difference between the stuff she usually wears and the stuff the Cheerleaders made her buy when they visited that boutique on her first day. Is she really that much of a tomboy?

She dismisses the thought and goes back to her suitcase. There are a few more clothes and framed picture in there. The picture gets removed first. It's a window into better days. Her father, herself, and… her brother. She can sense the tears flowing to her eyes as the memories of the past attack her.

"Damn it…Why?" She clutches the picture to her chest.

* * *

A younger Reina is lying in a hospital bed in a cold white room with a cast on her ankle. She didn't break it but rather sprained it. William and her brother stand near her bed with obvious looks of concern. She tries standing up, but her brother prevents her from getting out of the bed.

"It'll be a couple of weeks before you are allowed to walk on it again sweetie. So no roughhousing until you are fully recovered. Okay?" William advises her.

"Yep." Reina says. Her voice is chipper. The cold compress they used dulled the pain.

"Good. Now, I'm going to grab a wheelchair. I'll be back in a few moments."

Her brother stands near her bed as she smiles at him.

"I'm sorry Reina. I shouldn't have made that."

"It's okay."

He leans in and puts his arm around her. "I will make this up to you. I don't have anything right now, but maybe my wrench can hold the promise?" He pulls the wrench out of his pocket and puts it in her hand. "Dad always said not to hurt girls."

"I'm fine, really."

Her brother nods. "Okay, but I promise not to hurt you again."

Back in the present, Reina sits the picture down and decides to go out for a bit anyway, a dreary mood hanging about as thick as fog.

* * *

Hisao stands in a small group of people waiting for the light to allow safe crossing. He moves along with the others, eventually thinning out as they go to their various destinations. Once again he finds himself walking alone, past the outdoor sport grounds. A couple of people are heading towards him, acting like, well, a couple of teenagers.

"Yuna, would like to get something to eat?" ask a boy following said girl. He is wearing a wide brim green hat and a green cloak.

"Actually Clyde-kun," answers this Yuna person, "that sounds like a good idea."

Hisao bumps past the girl and the boy causing them both to scoff at his rudeness. Clyde decides he is not going to let him off so easily.

"Hey, pal… You're not even going to apologize?"

Hisao stops but doesn't turn around. "Why would I apologize? Weren't you two busy _not_ looking where you were going?"

"If you're not going to apologize to me, at least say sorry to her."

Hisao turns around and looks at the both of them with cold blue eyes. He scans the boy, Clyde, and then turns his attention Yuna. "So… what draws you two each other?"

The boy with the green hat raises an eyebrow. "Hey, listen, she's just a friend. You're reading too much into it."

"Whatever." Hisao's tone is just as grim as it was when he began talking to them. "It's not really any of my business, nor do I care."

Yuna decides to get involved. "Wow. What's your issue?"

He squints at them. In a cold dead voice, he tells them, "My issue is the fact that this trivial conversation is keeping me from my job." Without a further word he turns and walks off.

"Creep," Yuna mutters.

"That boy's got serious issues."

With that annoyance behind him, Hisao continues his walk to the University and his meeting with Chao.

* * *

Once he reaches the building, he heads inside and hurries over to the elevator. Third floor, room 322-W. A few other college students ride along with him, standing on the other side from the creepy kid. When the door opens the students hurriedly leave the small elevator. Hisao stays on until the next floor.

When the door opens again, Hisao steps out into the hallway and walks forward.

301… 303… 310… 322.

"Quantum Physics… Let's see how much of a genius she is."

He opens the door errantly, a scowl on his face. In the room there is only Chao and writing on a white board… lots of writing. Mathematical equations, graphs, and charts are set up around the room. Chao is standing at the center of it looking like an artist envisioning her painting as she works on it. She writes some numbers down near a letter and steps back, bumping into Hisao.

"Ah! Sorry. I was a little wrapped up."

"I see… So you wanted to see me?"

"What about Corentin?"

The boy groans, "The old man has set him up on an omiai."

"Poor kid. I'm amazed he didn't set you up too." Hisao says nothing in response to this. "He did, didn't he?"

"Yes."

"You're not actually going to go through with it, are you?" Chao asks.

Completely ignoring the question, Hisao steps forward and looks at the equation. "So why exactly did you hire us to come here? And isn't it a little odd for a simple school girl to have the kind of money needed to hire a group of mech mercenaries? Sure, the genius is easy enough to explain, even the money too, really… but there's something more going on here, isn't there? A school, a girl, and the machines…

"If you were planning on destroying the school, then you wouldn't need to delay. No… you're up to something else. Perhaps revenge on someone. But even then, giant machines might be a step too far. So this only leaves the first question. Why did you hire us to come here and then 'enroll' us? All I can deduce is that it's massive, whatever it is."

Chao gives him a wry smile. "You're pretty smart yourself. Perhaps we should discuss things a little more closely. I had planned on simply keeping you in the dark and feeding you carrots along the way, but it seems you are the kind of person that buried secrets cannot stay hidden from.

"I'm going to tell you something major. Since telling the world and forcing them to recognize the truth that's been right beneath their noses for a long time now is my goal, having you know now will not affect the end results."

Hisao continues his silence.

"There are two worlds of humans. This one, the world of technology. And the other, the world of magic."

"Do you really expect I'll believe that there is such a thing as magic?" Hisao asks condescendingly. "You may be well financed and smart, but I didn't read insane anywhere. It seems I am losing my touch."

"You want proof? Here… Ras Teil My Magic scir Magister!" She creates a small fire at the tip of her fingers.

"Chemical reactions and showmanship. Congratulations. Shall I award the Nobel Prize now, or do you want to wait for the media to show up?"

Chao looks slightly angry. "Damn skeptics. Give proof of the Loch Ness Monster to them and they'll turn away and say it's a guy with his arm out of the water. Come to the roof then. I'll show you that magic is real." She heads to the door of the room and leaves without closing it.

Hisao follows after her while muttering. "And so are unicorns and fairy tales. Hell, wishes are made from sunshine and butterfly farts."

* * *

Chao opens the door to the roof and shoves a brick in front of it so it won't close again. She dashes over to the edge and waits for Hisao to catch up.

"Did we have to come all the way up to the roof to look out at the tress?"

"Yes. I didn't want to burn my important research. Now watch… Omne Flammans Flamma Purgatus, Domine Extinctionis et Signum Regenerationis, in Mea Manu Ens Inimicum Edat! Flagrantia Rubicans!"

A massive wave of fire springs forth from Chao's hand, glowing bright red and orange and enveloping the area in a heat shimmer. She ends the spell prematurely, allowing the magic to fade to deep red embers.

Not saying anything, Hisao grabs her hand and holds it with both hands. He rubs it and looks it over making Chao blush.

"Any reason you're holding my hand?"

"I'll admit. That was a lot more impressive. I'm just looking for any weird tricks and to see if this is a fake hand…" He holds it a bit longer before saying, "It's warm."

Chao pulls her hand back. His statement makes her blush harder. "Don't say such things. I- If you can't find the trick, then it's magic."

"Okay, let's say I am a little more open to the idea to the fantastic," he spreads his arms in a broad, patronizing manner, "world of magic. Why hasn't this information been disseminated yet?"

"The magic world has regulations about keeping this information secret. And a lot of people from there either are unaware of this world, or find this one inferior."

Hisao looks at her for a moment. "So… are you from this magic world?"

Chao smiles deviously. "I'm a Martian from the future."

"…Right."

"You're being awfully hard assed about this." Chao adds a huff for extra emphasis.

"Well, even if it's true, all of it, you have to admit it's hard to believe."

"And that's what I am trying to change. See, believe it or not, I _am_ from the future. Things aren't good there because of my magical lineage. So I came back by making a magical pocket watch to change things in the past and improve my future."

Hisao scratches his head. He's obviously struggling with an argument, exhaling deeply. "Okay… I give up. Your convictions are pretty strong. I'm willing to believe, but it's going to take something a little more than a little flash in the pan show."

Chao snaps her fingers. "I've got it! Fire's polar opposite. It's not possible to flash water into ice without use of something like liquid nitrogen. We don't have a license for that."

"Sure. Do that and I'll be willing to hop on board."

"I'm not exactly an expert with ice so just bear with me." Chao begins incanting again and this time Hisao watches closely. Not a movement is lost to his eyes. A massive pillar of ice rises up from nowhere on the roof when she finishes. The moisture in the air freezes near the giant ice block, causing a white vapor to run down its sides. It sparkles in the sun.

Hisao knocks on it, leaving a bit of skin when he does. He inhales sharply as he pulls his knuckle off the ice. "Well, I'm ready to believe. So, you're really a wizard or something then?"

"Yes."

"Well then why do you need our help? Can't you use your magic to achieve your goals?"

Chao shakes her head. "See, this school is a hot bed of other mages and they all want to keep the secret. And making the world recognize all at once is quite a task."

"Certainly the world would be a better place if people knew magic existed."

"I'm not too concerned with that aspect. I… I just want to fix a few things wrong in my life and the only way to do that was to come back here and try to change the future."

"I could heal the world, but it'll cost you more than you can pay…" Hisao mutters.

"Excuse me?"

He waves it off. "Nothing."

"So for now, what I want you to do is to go around and get familiarized with the campus, perhaps you could roll it into your little date with Konoka." Chao then adds before he leaves, "She's here too, you know."

"I'm fully aware of that."

"She is also aware of magic now too, having found out about it a few days ago. In fact… Well, it's likely not important."

"What? What isn't important?"

"She made a pactio. Actually… two of them."

Hisao's eyes narrow. "What's that?"

"It's a contract between a mage and their partner. The partner receives a boost in abilities and sometimes an artifact. She got two artifacts."

He grunts a little in frustration.

"Something wrong?"

He approaches Chao. "I want one of these contracts. How do I get one? I want one as soon as possible."

"There are many ways. One of the easiest ways would be to kiss me."

"Whoa… Wait, what?"

"You heard me."

Hisao backs up while his cheeks flush. "While I'm not opposed to the idea… I…"

"Yes?" Chao decides she could get used to seeing him squirm.

"_Damn it,"_ Hisao thinks, _"I just can't let her get ahead of me… but I can't just up and kiss this girl. Is she coming on to me? Can't be… It's way too soon."_ He briefly inspects her posture and expression._"The way she's standing… No, it's not that. She's toying with me."_

"Stop messing with me!" he says.

"I'm not messing with you. You want a contract; you'll have to kiss me. Unless you want to bleed or something…"

"I'd rather take the kiss, thanks."

"Now you'd also have to get me to agree with it in the first place."

"What would I have to do to get that to happen?"

"Oh… A nice series of dates, since I'm not the kind of girl to kiss on the first one, then we'll see how I feel from there."

Hisao knows where this is going. "Sounds like a pain in the ass. I think I can get by on my own."

Chao is left looking slightly offended.

* * *

Back at the Starbooks café, Corentin and Konoka wrap up their meeting.

"I had a fun time," Konoka says, giving Corentin a big smile. "I hope everything works out for you and that girl!"

Corentin smiles back at her. "…Me too. Talking to you was nice and things, for you, I hope they work out too."

"See you around!" Konoka walks away, waving at Corentin for as long as she can.

Deciding that walking is just too much effort, Corentin saunters over and sits down at the nearest bus stop. The next bus won't be for another five minutes, so he shoves his cap forward a bit and leans his head against the back wall of the kiosk.

"Quel jour…"

About a minute passes before someone sits at the stop with him. He doesn't look at them right away, letting the tension of the strange meeting with that Konoe girl release itself. Reluctantly, he decides to sit up to keep from falling asleep. When he looks around he finds that the person sitting next to him is a tall, white haired, girl with green eyes.

"Bonjour," he offers. Out of reflex recently, he adds, "My name is Corentin Catherine-Verliane."

"Hello. I am Reina Whitehall."

Corentin's face becomes a poster child for shocked expressions. His thoughts race, _"It's her! The one Hisao has been chasing. Oh… What do I do? What do I do? Do I call him? Do I sit here and make idle chit-chat? Aww… Is this good or bad? Will this flaw the plans?"_

He's certainly heard her name more than enough. Hisao's nearly single minded focus for the last few years has left Corentin with a mental image that this girl perfectly matches. The short white hair, the emerald green eyes, the t-shirt, the… cargo pants.

"She's a garçon manqué…" he mutters.

"Umm…"

"Oh, about that, I am sorry. My thoughts wander. I just got back from a very taxing time."

"That's okay. From the sound of your accent and your name, I'd venture you're from France."

"Yes."

"So what brings you all the way here?"

"My parents moved for work."

"Must have been some culture shock then."

"Just a bit. For me, this is a strange place still. Faux pas is something I am trying to avoid." As she looks over to the posted schedule, he notices the two metal connections behind her ears just like Hisao has.

He thinks, "They are the same like that then…"

A few minutes later, the bus makes its stop in front of both kids and they get on when the doors open, followed by a few more people that gathered and a couple of people who run up to the bus to get on before it departs. They both take the same seat and continue chatting.

Sitting near the back of the bus is a man. He's wearing a long, white, lab coat and his unkempt hair is a rusty orange. With a click, one of the many lenses on his blackened goggles slides into place. His attention is not so clearly on Reina.

* * *

A few hours later finds Hisao walking to the headmaster's office. This is all merely part of the illusion of being a "student" at Mahora. But even with that, these marriage meetings are uncommon. Old people sticking to the old inefficient ways.

"_Probably an ugly, boring, girl who enjoys macramé and cats,"_ Hisao thinks to himself. _"If not, she is probably a cute girl that hates these meetings, so if I can work that angle, I'll get out of it easier."_

He knocks on the door and waits, not really caring if anyone comes to answer, in fact quite hoping everyone died. A couple of quiet moments pass, and just before he is about to walk away, someone answers the door, a voice finally saying to come in.

"_Come on cute girl…"_ Hisao hopes in his own head. When he walks in, he immediately makes eye contact with Konoka. _"Perfect. A cute girl and she certainly looks unhappy."_

"Good afternoon Ishikawa-san."

"…Yes."

The two parties sit down and face each other. One a sharp-witted teen, the other a wise old man. The older man can feel the pressure of Hisao's gaze and those icy blue eyes. He's never had the chance to experience the fabled "Death Specs" of Takahata, but he imagines it's like this. He archives this for a frame of reference.

The elderly man clears his throat despite. No chance some kid is going to come in here and throw him off his game. "Well, let's begin by having you tell us a little about yourself."

"Well, I was pretty much born for the field of robotics. I truly believe that the next step in humanity is on the digital front and I want to be there."

"You sound really driven. That's good. Now tell us a bit about your family."

"I have a father and a sister. Our mother died after we were born. He did the best he could I guess."

"Oh," Konoka speaks. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be. I never knew her so I can't really miss her." Honestly, for him, wounds that were never present don't need to heal.

"Well, I suppose that way of thinking can be helpful…" Konoka lulls. "But you should talk to your father about her."

"It really doesn't bother me."

"Now, is there anything you would like to ask, or hear about?"

"Not right now."

"Fine then. I shall let you away to get better acquainted." And with that Konoka finds herself shuffled outside just like before.

Konoka sighs.

"You're weak-willed," observes Hisao.

"What do you mean by that?"

"You torture yourself with these meetings despite the fact that you'd rather be anywhere else. You likely have someone in mind as someone you are attracted to, but you also don't want to let that old man in there down. You're a constant pleaser and likely hate it when people argue."

Konoka frowns a bit. "You're weird."

"I just operate off of cold hard logic." She doesn't say anything in response to that, but rather just looks at him for a moment. He sighs, "Fine. Let's go." Turning and walking off, he mutters, "People are so damned illogical these days."

* * *

Konoka and her new "suitor," who is walking quite a distance ahead, wind up in the business district. This is Konoka's second visit today, having come previously with Corentin. Hisao suddenly stops and Konoka gives him a questioning look. As he turns, she can just catch a glimpse of something metal behind his ears. The observation doesn't make a connection right now.

"Look… I don't know or care where you want to go. Just pick some place, I'll pay and be on my way."

"You know, you shouldn't be so gloomy. It isn't good for your health. It can lead to ulcers and high blood pressure. I know just the place, come on!" Konoka takes Hisao's hand and begins leading him somewhere.

She drags him along and takes a right hand turn. He swears he could hear a "What a cute couple" comment come from someone with blackened goggles, a lab coat, and rusty orange hair, as they pass. The comment causes a grim look to cross his face. Just briefly, he hears the sound of drums as he separates himself mentally from the situation. His breath increases as he thinks.

"We're here!" Konoka sings and snaps Hisao out of his daydream.

They are standing in front of a store that lets you make your own stuffed animals.

"You have _got_ to be kidding me," complains the dark haired boy.

"Aww… Give it a try. It'll be fun."

"If it'll end this day any sooner, fine."

Setsuna, just as with Corentin, remains in a position that allows her to keep watch on the two of them. Fortunately, this guy doesn't look too thrilled with having his time wasted. But still, ever vigilant.

Inside, Konoka pushes Hisao over to the beginning of the process, telling him they'll both make one for each other. He picks a white one and Konoka chooses a light brown one.

As Hisao picks a few clothes, a small kid of about four gives him an odd look that says the moody boy is out of place. Hisao fires back a glance that makes the kid feel like his soul is being peered into, causing him to run back to his mother. With that out of the way, he goes over to the stuffing machine and waits for it to go through its process.

Konoka, on the other hand, smiles through her entire selection process. Picking out a few cute items, she happily watches the machine spin and turn, the stuffing rolling about as it does. It's her sincere hope that this bear, with its bright colors and design, will lighten Hisao's bad mood. She eagerly awaits the final product.

Eventually, they both have their bears made and put into sacks.

"Here you go!" The cheer in her voice would have been infectious to a normal person. "I hope this will break you out of the bad mood you are in."

Better people than you have tried kid. They really have. Hisao hands over the sack containing the one he made. "And I hope this will bring you to some sense of reality."

"Well, I guess this is goodbye for now," Konoka says with a slight hint of sadness in her voice.

They both walk away from each other, Konoka with a depressed feeling, Hisao still slightly irritable.

When Konoka is out of sight of Hisao, she opens the bag and takes the bear out. It's dressed in a black, gothic Lolita style dress, with a few white frills. It has an eye patch over its right eye, and a nurse's hat.

Hisao doesn't bother with his, deciding to simply carry the bag with him all the way back to the room or until he finds a trash can.

* * *

Corentin sits, asleep, in a chair in the room he shares with Hisao, having opened a window when he got back to let in some fresh air. His nap is short lived as Hisao comes into the dorm and takes the opportunity to pitch the sack on the table. It nearly slides of the edge from the force he puts behind it.

Corentin stands up and looks at the bag, noticing the logo on it. It's odd for Hisao to have gone there. Perhaps this was from the Konoka girl.

"Hisao… This bag, no doubt it is from Konoka?"

Flopping down into the bed and placing his hand behind his head, Hisao answers, "Yeah…'I hope this will break the bad mood you are in.' Feh." His tone was almost mocking.

Corentin opens it up and looks at it. It's a cute light brown bear and has a white shirt with a red heart on it. Two little heart shaped bobbers wiggle back and forth on top of its head. Corentin laughs at it.

"You want it? You can have it."

Corentin sits it down on the table and informs his roommate of the chance meeting he had today. "Of all the people, guess who I met today."

"Someone with a bit of perspective?"

"Well, I cannot vouch for as such, but I met your Reina at a bus stop."

Hisao bolts up, almost smacking his head on the upper bunk. "What?! You didn't say anything did you?"

Corentin shakes his head. "No, of course not! I would never do such a thing."

"Good. Last thing I want is for her to know where I am. As long as I hold that bit of information, she's in the more untenable position."

"Always thinking." Corentin takes the bear off the table and sits it near Hisao's head causing him to groan.

"Hey Core… I need to ask you something."

Corentin piques up. "What?"

"What would you do if magic existed?" His voice is low.

"But," his friend answers while bringing a chair around to sit down in with the back facing forward, "no such thing does. Such flights of fancy are not something you usually embark on. Are you feeling well?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. You see, Chao-san showed me something today. I was, and still am, unable to explain it. At first, she did this fire thing and that was easy enough to explain, but then she showed me this pillar of ice that she literally produced from nowhere. _FWOOSH!_ Right up from the ground. It even took a patch of skin." He held out the knuckle of his right hand. "There was really no way for me to explain it away."

"Perhaps it was a bit of liquid nitrogen and water?"

"But all that waste for a simple illusion? That seems a little farfetched. What if magic is real? Is there some huge thing going under our collective noses that's being kept a secret from us?"

"That I cannot answer as, for me, I was not there. But I think, if it were me, knowing would be better than not."

"That is what she is trying to do. Make the world aware, all at once. I'm thinking I just might stick with this assignment. If... If I could use magic, I'd make her finally hear me out. What would you do?"

Corentin knows what he'd do. "I'm afraid I do not know really. This, it is such a far away concept."

* * *

Konoka and Setsuna return back to the room Konoka shares with Asuna and Negi, the stuffed bear she got from Hisao in her hands. It's a little different looking, but Konoka quickly comes up with an explanation.

"Though the world may seem a little dark at times, underneath it all we're all really bright people that turn a blind eye to things half the time. However, in the end, we all need a little healing. Is that what you were trying to say? I don't know; Hisao is a difficult person."

"He's a very grim person from the sound of it." Setsuna looks at the bear he made.

Konoka sits the bear on her bed. "That's too bad too. That's no way to live your life, right Secchan?"

"Uh… Ojou-sama… I wouldn't…"

Konoka gives Setsuna an energetic hug. "Nonsense. Even you've been coming out of your shell recently. Maybe we can do the same for him!"

Setsuna is a lovely shade of tomato. "We cannot force people to change."

"We wouldn't force him silly. We could do it slowly."

Asuna and Negi come in much to Setsuna's relief. Konoka let go of the blade wielding girl in order to greet her roommates.

"Hi guys!"

"Hey Konoka. I see you're back from those meetings."

"Yeah. I met a boy from France named Co…Cor… something French, who already has someone back home, and a rather grumpy boy named Hisao Ishikawa."

"Really? Wow… I'd hate to say it Kono-chan, but I think your grandfather scraped the bottom of the barrel."

"No. Neither one wanted to be there so I had a much better time than usual," Konoka explains. "Corentin is a lot of fun and I think Hisao is a nice person despite his attitude. In fact," she goes back to her bed and grabs the stuffed bear, "we went to that stuffed animal place and get each other one of these." She holds out the bear.

Asuna remarks, "That's different."

"Oh, I think it's cute!" Konoka squeals. She puts it back on her bed.

Another knock comes from the door.

"I'll get it," Negi says and goes to the door. Talk of stuffed animals hasn't interested him in a couple of years. That and the thing is creepy as hell. When he opens the door, Reina is on the other side. "Hello, Reina-san. What brings you over?"

"I wanted to ask about that other pactio. That one with Fate."

"Sure, come in then."

The two of them go in to the dorm room, Reina closing the door behind her. After having a mostly girl free day, the presence of Konoka, Setsuna, and Asuna instantly attacks her nerves. She wishes now she wouldn't have closed the door. She mutters, "I should have known…"

"Hiya, Reina-san. What brings you around?" Asuna asks.

"W- Well… I w- wanted to ask Chamo about the oth- other p- p- pactio with Fate."

Chamo hops down from his perch in the loft. He lands deftly on Asuna's head with one of his usual giggles. She exclaims and knocks him off. "That's the second time!"

He spins on the table as he lands. When he stands up, he wobbles a bit before turning to Reina. "What did ya wanna know kid?"

"I j-just want to make sure you've g… ot it all l- l- locked away."

"Sure do! It's all safe and sound in my personal lockbox. Which is kept in a small space in a corner up there."

Reina smiles. "W- Well, I'll be off then. I just wanted to be sure that that thing was put away."

"Why not stick around a bit?" Konoka asks.

"Oh… I d- don't want to be a p- p- problem."

"Nonsense. Come, sit down," Konoka demands in a manner most cheerful. "Anyone for tea?"

"I could use a cup myself," Asuna tells her. "Need any help?"

"I've got it!"

Everyone, even if it is reluctantly, settles for tea. Konoka disappears into the kitchen for a few while. Meanwhile, Reina sits with the rest, an uneasy look on her face.

"Are you okay Reina-san?" Setsuna asks.

"I'm fine… Good…"

Asks Setsuna, "So what did you guys do today?"

"We went to train with Evangeline today," answers the only human male in the room.

Reina thinks… and doesn't recall ever hearing of this "Evangeline" person.

"I- Is she a mage like you?" she inquires.

"Only the best one ever," Chamo answers. "She's one badass vampire if there ever was one."

One word in that sentence hitches in Reina's brain. "V- V- Vampire?!" Her voice stutters for a reason other than fear of girls.

"Yep," Negi replies. "And she's also considered to be the most powerful mage ever. Most mages call her 'Dark Evangel.' In fact, she's also become much like the boogeyman."

That seems like a real bad idea to Reina. "So why did you go see her? If she's so dangerous wouldn't it be better if you'd stayed away? Or, you know, slay her?"

"See, I'm still in training so going and getting training from someone as strong as her is a good idea."

"And what makes you think she just won't tear out your throat at some point?"

"She owes me one."

"This still seems like a bad idea, Negi-kun. You ever need a safe place to retreat to, call me."

"Reina-san," Asuna states, slightly surprised, "you weren't stuttering."

"Oh… Th- That..." Reina looks down at the floor. "I w- was just really f- focused is all." At this point she wants to bury her head.

"So what is it like training under Evangeline-san?" Setsuna asks.

Negi hesitates. "Well… It's quite honestly the hardest thing I've ever done. I suppose that is to be expected really. Nothing good ever came easy, and this is the best training I could have hoped for."

"Just be careful," Setsuna advises. "Evangeline-san isn't known for her compassion."

Konoka returns a couple of minutes later with hot tea for everyone, even a smaller cup for Chamo.

"So how were those meetings, Konoka?" Asuna asks.

"They honestly weren't bad. Cor…" Konoka hesitates, trying to get his name right, "Corentin… Catherine… Varylane, I think it was, told me there is a girl he loves back in France. He hasn't told her yet, but he keeps in regular contact with her. We had coffee and spoke about how he should tell her how he feels. He was obviously a very shy person. I felt a little bad for him really. He seemed like the kind of person who'll need to muster a lot of courage to tell someone how he feels."

"And the other one sounds like a real winner. I'm amazed he even bothered making that bear," Asuna states. "He seems like he'd be the kind to get everything together and then hand it to you saying 'Do it yourself.'"

"No. Like I said earlier, I think he's a really nice person underneath it all."

"Not like it matters, right? You probably won't see him again anyway. Besides, maybe he was just having a bad day."

"I never thought of that," Konoka realizes. "You're right. I probably just caught him at a bad time."

They go on to finish their tea and talk of other subjects.

* * *

Night eventually falls upon Mahora, as the moon waxes brightly. The man with the rusty orange hair, moustache, and beard walks out in the open, his lab coat open and fluttering around behind him. He finds a nice bench to sit for a while.

"So this is the fabled Mahora Academy?" He reaches into his coat pocket and pulls out a small device with three red lights on it. A red one, a yellow one, and a green on. After moving it around and inspecting which lights are on, he decides. "Yes. My pet is here. And it seems the children are here now too. What a small world, truly. I suppose that it was to be expected then. It should migrate where there are high levels of technology. The next few days should prove very interesting. Oh, my yes."

* * *

Back in Chisame and Reina's room, the white haired inhabitant looks up at the door when it opens. Chisame walks in from being gone all day. As Chisame goes over to the dressers, she catches sight of the picture Reina set up.

"Is that your father and brother?"

"Yeah."

"Looks like you finally did your unpacking then."

Reina nods as she finds a way to slide farther away from Chisame. "Y- Yep."

Chisame sits her laptop down on the table and opens it up, checking how things went while she was gone all day.

Reina, still uncomfortable with the idea, decides to make small talk. "S- So where were y- you all day t- t- today?"

"Visiting my family. It was my grandmother's birthday today."

"W- Well, happy b- birthday then."

* * *

Hisao is getting ready to go to sleep and notices the bear is still on his bed. He gives it a stern look.

"_Who needs emotions…"_ he thinks to himself as he holds the bear. _"All they do is get in the way of clear thought and reason. That's why I love piloting the Ebony Knight. I'm able to turn them off inside of it. All the clear thoughts, uncolored by feelings, I can see everything as it truly is."_

He takes the bear and begins to toss it across the room, only to halt at the last moment. He looks at the light brown fur and the little heart bobbers.

"Stupid girl… No one should be allowed to be that slaphappy," he mutters softly. "That kind of thinking never gets you anywhere." The heart bobbers wobble around as he holds onto it. He grunts and sits it on the night stand hear his bed, next to the lamp. "Goddamn it."

Slightly less angry, he pulls the covers over himself, turns his light off. Not a moment later he turns away from it.

On the upper bunk, Corentin, pilot's goggles hanging off the bed post, sighs after hearing his roommate's musings.

"Perhaps there was wisdom in what she said…"

**Negima: Femella Intra Machina Chapter 09: End**

**The End of the Chapter Stuff:** Well, how was it? No matter what, it's not nearly as dishwater dull like the previous version. It was terrible with the constant introductions of Hisao and Corentin. I hope you'll continue reading.

On a related note, it's Femella Intra Machina's first anniversary! Huzzah! Feel free to leave a celebratory review, or one saying I should stop while I'm ahead. (Though I hope you'd leave one for the former reason.)

This chapter was brought to you by "Daft Punk: Alive 2007," "Fallout 3 Main Title" theme, and by breakfast as it's the most important meal of the day.

**Thanks This Chapter:**The Ansem Man and Eternal-Longing for proofreading and Je-kun for being an assistant, even if it was in a reduced capacity.

**Thanks for reading, and reviewing if you do. You guys make it worth the effort!**


	10. Our Truth

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Negima. I own only my OCs.

**Author's Notes:** I really don't have much to say at this point. It's Reina focused, but for a good reason. You'll see why when you get to the end.

This chapter's title comes from the "Lacuna Coil" song of the same name from their "Karmacode" album.

**Negima: Famella Intra Machina**

**By Dark Dragon Dave**

**Chapter 10: Our Truth**

A new day dawns over Mahora as the sun leaves the Western hemisphere in its wake. As per usual, with the arrival of a new day, the information networks of the school spring to life and people start their day checking email, voicemail, webpage hits, and news, getting sports scores, updating blogs, and getting in a few minutes of online gaming before going to school or work. All of this activity is seen by a recent resident to the data streams. It bobbles within, scraping the tastiest bits of data for itself. Images don't load, games disconnect, and instant messages aren't received.

Being simply a compression of data and given artificial intelligence makes it quite easy to slip in and out of restricted access areas. It swims about in the great digital expanse seeking all kinds of information to add to its body. The more data, and the tastier it is, the more power it gains.

It ramps up its eating, causing a noticeable lag in the network, forcing servers down in several places.

* * *

Chisame, who is in the middle of uploading a batch of Chiu pictures she took while Reina was out yesterday, suddenly finds herself disconnected from the server.

"_What the hell is going on? This kind of stuff has been going on since she showed up."_ She thinks as she looks back at Reina, who is still asleep. _"I suppose it's wrong to blame her for it, but maybe that mech of hers is eating up a lot of the bandwidth around here."_

With a groan, she turns back around and shuts her computer down. "Damn it…" Chisame stands up and walks over to the bed to wake her roommate when she catches the time.

* * *

Another day of classes is about to carry on like usual at Mahora. As Negi runs along, warning Asuna of the upcoming test for the middle of the semester, he catches a large gathering of people on a lower level from them. He stops and watches a group of tall, older, men and some women surround a smaller girl.

"Ku Fei-san?" First thing he does is panic. "Ooooh… This isn't good! She's going to get hurt!"

Kaede happens by and reassures him. "Those guys are making the same mistake they make all the time." She lets out a small sigh.

They all rush in to attack her, but one-by-one, they all get knocked around like rag dolls.

"You'll probably want to avoid going to the nurse today, Negi-kun," advises the ninja. "It'll be full up for a while."

Negi watches on in awe as the small blonde girl with the wiry frame tosses people twice— three times her size around like it is perfectly normal. As she fights, he recognizes an elbow strike she uses as the same kind that Fate boy used back in Kyoto. He begins to think, settling on a decision rather quickly.

He gets a little too close when a random challenger comes up from behind him, standing over him like a great wave about to crash on the beach. Ku rushes in and straight line punches him in the stomach.

"You okay, Negi-bozu?" she asks while the random man falls over.

"Yes… Yes. Thank you."

* * *

Class begins and then class ends as it always does. The students stand and bow.

"Ku Fei-san…" Negi says. "I need to speak with you. Would you please wait out in front of the memorial in World Tree Plaza?"

"Can do."

"Thank you! I'll see you then!"

This information is like a dam leak. Gossip begins to splash out like so much water. Most of it deals with the possibility of him confessing some hitherto unknown feelings towards the martial artist. With that distraction going on, Reina takes the opportunity to duck out of class—

"Oh no you don't!" Ayaka tells her as she wasn't but one step away from the door frame. "I've got some important business with you concerning the trip."

Reina turns and realizes Ayaka is piecing things together. Time to come up with a well executed and believable way out of this. "I… I w- would but… I have- have to… get my foot removed?" Damn it!

"I'm not buying that for a second! Now what's going on here? First you get all flirty with Negi and he's moved on to Ku Fei! You I could halfway understand, but Ku Fei?!"

"WHAT?!" Reina boggles.

Misa adds, "She's not very smart."

"Nor is she sexy…"

Yue, who is standing nearby, simply sips her juice box and walks away, rubbing the bridge of her nose. As she leaves, she grabs Reina by the cuff. "Come on, it's starting up and it would be best if we just got out now."

"Uh…" Reina swallows her throat. "Th- Th- Thanks."

"Oh no you two don't!" Suddenly, Ayaka is dragging them back. "I'm not allowing you two to get away that easy. You were both there and I'm going to get some answers when this Negi-sensei crisis is over. Now you are coming with us to check out what Negi is going to do with Ku Fei because I do not want you out of my sight. Something big is going on, and as the class representative I am not going to be left out in the dark."

Reina reaches for her phone.

"Haruna-san, take that if you will… and don't touch anything on it."

"Right." Haruna follows orders and snags the phone from Reina. "No mech support for you this time."

Reina protests, "Mother—!"

* * *

"Pucker."

"Huh?" Hisao looks up from his small map. They are sitting on a bench near the World Tree.

"These lemon candies. Pucker is something they make you do," Corentin tells him, unaware he is actually completing a joke. "Would… you like to try one?"

Hisao comments slowly, "…I don't really like sour things."

"Perhaps some sweeter ones I should have got instead."

Hisao sighs. "Okay… If you are so set on sharing your candy with me, fine. I'll take one."

"I would not want you to be displeased!"

"No, it's alright." Hisao reaches into the bag and removes one of the pre-wrapped candies. He takes the wrapper off and puts the sour treat in mouth. And much like Corentin said, Hisao puckers. "Godommot," he comments through his sudden facial disability, "thos ur suer."

"This is what I said," Corentin issues with a smile.

Hisao suffers through it for a little more before spitting it out into the wrapper. "I'm sorry… I just cannot stand sour things."

Corentin continues to smile nonetheless.

Hisao's attention gets drawn to a far away cluster of girls gathering by some nearby bushes. It's not long before he spots Reina among them. He quickly shuffles the map up, obscuring his face. "Keep me informed as to what's going on."

"Of this, I think they are doing what we are now doing."

"What?"

"Spying on someone."

Hisao realizes he asked a stupid question. "Not like that. Who are they spying on? What could possibly have Reina along with them?"

"This I cannot tell from here."

Hisao takes Corentin's flight cap, resulting in much protest from the French boy. Since Reina isn't paying attention to them, Hisao tosses it somewhere over near the girls. "While you're over there, take a look at what's going on."

Corentin takes his bag of candies with him when he goes to get his hat.

They are all watching some blonde girl stand around and eat. He situates his hat back on his head when they all start swooning. Some boy, around ten or so, comes running up to the formerly eating girl who is now licking her fingers.

"Negi-kun in casual clothes is so cute!" remarks one of them.

"_Negikun, huh? Is that his name or perhaps a title,"_ he thinks, _"I'm still not sure of nicknames here either. How do they work?"_

Just as he is about to turn away, he sees the small boy take a swing at the girl. The two of them look like they are hugging.

"Who started the hug?!"

"You mean they _do_ love each other?!"

"Well, I did see Ku Fei leave her room during the trip…"

Ayaka piques up. "Could she be wrapped up in what happened during the trip?" she asks herself quietly. "Reina-san, Kaede-san, Asuna-san… what is going on under my nose?"

"Hey, he's about to confess!"

Interrupting all of that, Asuna, Konoka, and Setsuna break up the supposed confession. "There you are Negi. We've been looking for you," Asuna informs him.

Corentin witnesses most of the girls falling over behind the bushes.

"Really?"

"Yeah. We're going bowling and karaoke since Setsuna-san's never gone before. You want to come along? You are welcome too, Ku-chan."

"I go then."

"So they're all getting together for a meeting… Reina-san!"

The timid girl responds. "Ah! W- What?"

"Why didn't you tell me about this meeting?"

"I… Don't know a- anything about a m- m- meeting."

Ayaka suddenly stands up and begins heading over to the slowly forming group. "I'm going to get to the bottom of this."

"I think they said they were going to go bowling," Makie says.

"A meeting at the bowling alley? Hah! Now I have an excuse!" She climbs over the bushes and rushes over to her favorite child teacher. "Negi-sensei! If you're going bowling I'd love to go!"

"You can't just invite yourself along," Asuna tells Ayaka.

Chimes Makie, "Well, I think I'll call some of the others if we're going bowling."

Corentin walks back, hat firmly on his head, and informs Hisao of the goings on.

"To me, it seems, they are getting all excited about a small boy named…" Corentin takes a moment to think. "Negikun."

"Well, 'kun' is a title, much like your insistence on calling me 'monsieur.' So who's this Negi person then?"

Corentin answers, "A primary school student he looks like. Short, reddish-brown hair, cute tiny little glasses."

"Well the first name is unique enough. Perhaps I can search for him. Come on." Hisao stands up, still using the paper to conceal his face.

* * *

The best, and only, place to go bowling in Mahora is "Kaiser Bowl." Their mascot, a raven with a white beak, sits atop the building, surrounding a red bowling ball with its black, black wings. Every noon, it lets out a loud cawing noise and extends its wings forward, shading the entrance.

The bowling alley gains some booming business this evening as over half of class 3-A arrives.

Ku Fei gains a small following as she racks up strike after strike, ending up with a seven-in-a-row strike.

"It's hard to control the power," admits Setsuna.

Everything that's been going on recently wells up inside Ayaka, causing Ku Fei to take notice of the nasty ki building up in Ayaka's general direction. The class rep decides she just cannot let things stand as they are.

"That is it!" Her shouting draws a fair bit of attention and shocked reactions. "I do not care if Negi-sensei _has_ made up his mind! To just sit idly by and do nothing about it is just not something I can do!" She points right at the martial artist. "Ku Fei-san, I challenge you to a competition!"

"I always accept contest."

"During the Kyoto trip some pretty strange things went on. And all of it seems to center around Negi-sensei. When I win, I want some answers. And just to make things interesting, whoever loses gives up the chase for Negi-sensei for good."

"Sure is okay? I good at everything but studying."

A smile of strained determination nestles on the taller blonde's face. "I'll show you what I'm made of." She turns to the other girls. "Listen up! Anyone who wants to try to make a claim, or has intentions on Negi-sensei, we are going to have a bowling competition. Winner takes all!"

Negi overhears this, which wasn't hard to do. "Whaa!"

The owner of the alley approaches the one employee behind the counter. "So what's going on over there?"

"I _think_ it's some kind of competition or something," the kid at the counter answers. He looks over to the white haired girl sitting at the counter who happens to be dressed like the rest of them. "Excuse me, I don't mean to be intrusive, but do you have any clue what's going on?"

"Actually," she looks at his nametag, "Sloan-san, I really would rather _not_ be involved with whatever they are doing down there."

A smile crosses his face. "You must have spent some time in a major English speaking country."

"My father is from the U.S. We speak English a lot at home. My name is Reina Whitehall by the way."

"Nice to meetcha."

The two shake hands.

"Hey, Reina-san!" comes Ayaka's voice. "You're a part of this too! Get down here!"

Time to come up with another lie, she thinks. "I… c- can't b- bowl. C- Court order!"

Ayaka gets a strange look on her face. "What? Why is that?"

"I- I b… owl overhanded."

"Quit lying and get over here before I drag you over here."

Reina sighs and slides off of her seat. "Sloan-san… How often do people die from bowling accidents?"

"Uhh… Never, that I know. There may have been one in an X-Files episode…"

"Okay… Thanks." Reina ambles slowly over to the group.

* * *

Over near the toilets, where all important movements happen, Asuna is brought to light about what was going on before she and the others interrupted.

She shrugs it off. "Oh that's just not true. I mean I could see him and Honya-chan, hell, even Reina-san, but Ku-Fei? What, did you hear this from Paru-san?"

"Hey, it's true. A lot of us saw that he was about to confess," Haruna says.

"Either way, why tell me?"

Misora explains, "Well, you are Baka Red and are sort of his guardian… So how do we fix this? Do we tell Ku-chan?"

"I still think a Paru rumor is just that."

"Hey! Excuse me for just telling you what most of us saw."

"So let's just watch the game for now. We'll just keep Ku Fei in the dark for now."

As they do that, Haruna gets a phone call, not on her phone, but on Reina's.

"Oh! I forgot I had this." She flips it open. "Hello?"

"Ummm… Hello. Who is this?"

"This is Haruna Saotome. I just happen to be carrying Reina-san's phone right now. If you can spare a moment I can give it to her."

"Would you please? That would be greatly appreciated."

Haruna moves around some of the others to get to Reina, who is bowling unenthusiastically. She places the ball on the floor and shoves it forward with her foot.

"Excuse me, Reina-san?"

Reina slides away slightly. "Ye… W- What is it?"

"Someone wants to talk to you." She hands the phone over to her timid classmate.

"Hello?"

"Reina, we've got an issue," says the voice in English while she abandons her game. She heads back to the counter and sits at one of the stools.

Reina switches to English too. "What's the matter?"

"It seems the InfinIT Foundation wanted a match against the top mech pilot in the field after seeing your performance at the convention a while back. They are sending an A.I. controlled mech to challenge you now."

"WHAT?!"

"I know. It's all legal and everything. Both sides have the air clearance, and a good sized area to fight in. Unfortunately, some of Mahora is involved."

"Someone could get hurt!" Her sudden outburst draws some unwanted attention.

"They're trying to prove themselves in the most ass way possible I guess. Listen, please be careful and do your best to keep everyone safe Reina."

"Right. I'll make sure everyone is safe."

"Thank you. I'm sorry about this. Impetuous fools. You show 'em, okay honey?"

Reina nods needlessly. "Will do, dad! Goodbye."

"You stay safe as well. Goodbye."

Both sides hang up and Reina runs outside. The owner of the alley asks Sloan, "You can speak English, right? What was that about?"

"Not good from the sound of it."

Negi is busy applauding everyone's efforts when Reina ducks out the door.

The mech pilot presses the button on the outside of her phone, sending the summoning signal to the Ivory Knight. She begins a tense waiting session.

Inside the alley, Nodoka is getting a lecture.

"Listen Nodoka! Are you just going to give up the fight over a stupid bowling game?! In your heart of hearts, does it really sit well with you that after all you've done that Ku Fei just walks off the winner."

"First it's Reina and now it's Ku Fei. _I can't fight against all of them…_" Nodoka whines while thinking about the insurmountable odds of fighting all the girls in class.

"Hey! Don't think like that! You can still come out as the champion of Negi-sensei's heart. You really need to leave an impression. Just get him alone and kiss him." Just then, something catches her attention. "Alright, look there. Negi's going to the toilet."

"Kissing him after he's done…" She shudders.

"Just go fight for his heart!"

Yue chimes in, offering what little support she can to the shy librarian. "Do your best Nodoka."

Nodoka nods and wanders after Negi.

After a couple of minutes of small talk, a quake rocks the area with a metallic thud. Negi looks around. "Was that a quake?"

Nodoka observes, "It felt like just a small jolt."

Several panicked people run inside, causing Negi and a few others in his group, namely Asuna, Konoka, and Setsuna, to rush outside. Reina is riding the winch up into the chest and Negi rushes after.

"What's going on?" he asks at the top of his lungs since the sounds of panic try to drown him out.

"Don't follow me, alright? Stay here, have some fun with the others. I've got to go stop an idiot."

"But—!"

"No! You're not going with me. End of discussion." Her voice is oddly commanding. She climbs into the hatch and flops down in her chair. The wires drop down like usual, and she plugs herself in, waking up a few moments later as the Ivory Knight.

As Negi pushes ever forward, the Knight thunders away and lifts off, quickly leaving quite a distance between the two.

Haruna sees this as a golden opportunity. She grabs Negi by the shoulders and begins pushing him back in. "Come on, I'm sure she can handle herself. She was doing that stuff since before you met her."

* * *

Hisao wakes up in the Ebony Knight and immediately masks his signal. No need to leave a trail, right? Diving into Mahora's network initially gives him a feeling of tripping forward. MAC Addresses and IP Numbers stream by him like little glowing particles. He, in a monochromatic, digital holographic representation of his human body, flies around the various numbers and places his hand on a random light orb.

_"All I have to do is find one connected to the school's proper network. Man it looks like someone's been eating the information around here."_

He flits about different orbs.

"_Maintenance schedule… Daily lunch specials… Illuminati meeting… Chiu…"_ He floats over to yet another orb and touches it. "_Ah, here we go. Finally!"_

The system is pretty routine as far as security goes. He's looking through the files on all the students, coming across Corentin's and his. When the student files turn up nothing, he does a global search on the name Negi and comes up with several recipes and a file on a teacher. He looks at the picture and comes to the conclusion that this Negi is the same one that Corentin described.

"_So they were all getting worked up over some kid teacher? Ugh… Idiots."_

He's about ready to leave when he spots something further out in the distance. It's larger than him, and looks much like a red demon. Hisao runs a trace on it as it feasts on some of the digital expanse. He gleans its vital information, things like its file name, and decides it's best to skip out.

With another tripping sensation, Hisao finds himself back in the Ebony Knight.

"Corentin, start up the Falchion, I found something in the network that we should block."

"Uh… Okay."

They had both parked their machines out in the woods near the school before they came, covering them with dark colored tarps to prevent birds from using them as toilets and to keep anyone from spotting them too easily. Corentin lifts part of the tarp up and finds the hatch quickly.

Not wasting a second, he hops in, flops down in his seat, and presses a button on his right. The lights start up as power flows to the systems. Hisao's voice comes over the speakers.

"That's good enough," Hisao tells him. "No point going through the whole process. Anyway, I'm going to update everything from here. I'd send this to Reina, but I doubt she'd even listen."

* * *

Reina lands just outside the city limits, near the river, as a few vehicles go across the bridge. Some of them stop and look on in awe, most of them consisting of people from out of town. She scans the horizon with both her cameras and her radar. Everything is quiet on all fronts for a few moments, and then something pings on her radar. Coming in from the south, moving at a speed she rarely opens her engines up for.

It quickly changes from a speck on the horizon to a full scale machine in a matter of moments, landing with a thunderous noise as the flares from its engines dissipate. The mech now before her is mostly red, with some pieces being white.

"Greetings and salutations," it says in an artificial voice that sounds male. "I am the A.I. for the InfinIT Foundation's mecha, the 'New Dawn R/H-20.' And my name is 'Ozzymandus.' It is a… _pleasure_… to meet the number one mecha pilot in the field today."

Reina doesn't know what to say. She was expecting it to come in, guns ablaze. Instead, it's all niceties and fanboyism. "Yeeeeaaah… Well if we can keep destruction to the town behind me at zero, that'd be great."

"Oh, of course." With that, it brought up a rifle and started firing.

Reina weaves between the bullets, trying to deflect them off course. "Hey! I said let's not cause any damage to town!"

Ozzymandus simply points an arm mounted rocket launcher at her, forcing her to move out of the way. The New Dawn turns to follow her as she dashes to her left, playing in to her want of not destroying the road to her right.

Reina lifts off the ground, deciding that an aerial battle is less likely to get someone hurt or killed. The New Dawn follows her lead and also goes airborne. As it does, it takes the opportunity to fire a few more rounds at her. Ozzymandus increases the engines output in order to draw closer and up the chance of hitting the Ivory Knight.

Reina suddenly stops, using her boosters to drop her speed instantly. The New Dawn is unable to react quickly enough, slamming face first right into Reina's elbow. To prevent itself from crashing, it grabs Reina's leg, causing both of them to fall right out of the sky. Before the dust settles, both combatants are up and facing each other.

Once again, Reina heads up to prevent anyone on the ground from getting injured. Ozzymandus toggles a switch on the rifle and aims upwards as the A.I. takes off after the Ivory. Reina dances around, preventing her opponent from drawing a lock on her.

With an audible "skushing" noise, Reina forms her blade. She switches her direction, changing from going up to backward while stopping her elevation. The New Dawn quickly boosts backwards, preventing Reina's sword strike from hitting.

Ozzymandus fires his rifle again, though it now seems to be acting like an assault rifle. It targets Reina as she dashes around him. Oddly, she circles around the New Dawn twice before suddenly thrusting backwards and then towards Ozzymandus.

It grabs her arm before the blade can rip through the New Dawn, the light of the blade glowing off the paint of both machines. Reina shifts and lands a couple of punches in before the A.I. swings itself around and rushes backwards, shooting at the white mech the whole time.

Reina heads to her left, and spins around to face Ozzymandus, bringing her missile pod up and over her shoulder. It opens and lets loose with three missiles. They are all shot down by the A.I. before even coming close. Reina fires three more, hoping the smoke cloud from the others will obscure the next volley.

* * *

The battle isn't just observed by a few curious out-of-towners and interested locals. Several members of the aviation committee are contacted about doing some fly-by's in order to get some pictures, Kazumi Asakura being one of them. Through the use of blackmail, er… bartering, she secures a ride.

Satomi Hakase finds a nice place on the roof of a building and watches through the use of a pair of binoculars. Chao Lingshen joins her in short order, unfolding a steel chair next to her.

Satomi looks away from the battle and at Chao.

"It's not every day," comments Lingshen with a cunning smile, "you get to see a real mech battle."

Satomi turns back to the fight. "You think someone would have ordered an evacuation or something."

"Actually, the section of Mahora the field of operations includes is so minor that there's no reason to, and besides, this way we can get a close look at her in action."

Using a similar idea, the man with the rusty orange hair, sometimes known as the Artificer, is doing the same as Satomi and Chao. On a roof, observing from afar, the attached lenses on his black glasses shifting around. He turns a tuning knob on what looks like a pair of bulky headphones.

It will be making its move. He knows he will have his chance.

* * *

Before the group of school girls and their young teacher leaves, another group, consisting of four people, enters the alley. Negi happens to be up at the counter, returning his shoes as he overhears them talking about the mech fight going on south of town.

"Yeah… It's totally preliminary but the white one looks like it's getting its butt kicked."

"My money is on the red one, hands down. All the white one is doing is flying around getting shot at."

Negi knows right away what they are talking about.

One of the two girls in the group speaks up. "Aren't you guys the least bit worried? What if they decide to fight in town?"

Negi puts his shoes on quickly and rushes out the door.

The other guy in the group comments, "Now there's a boy who likes his mecha."

Asuna, Konoka, and Setsuna follow along outside. When they head south they can clearly see the mechs flying around, the Ivory Knight getting chased by the red one, the lights of tracer bullets streaming towards the Ivory.

"Why didn't she tell me anything?" the boy teacher thinks.

"It's a long shot Aniki, but why not try contacting her through the pactio?" asks Chamo from his spot on Negi's shoulder. "Maybe this is all part of her plan?"

"Do you think it'll work?"

"It's worth a shot."

He finds an empty alleyway and ducks inside.

"What are you up to Negi?" Asuna questions.

"I'm worried about Reina-san!"

"Listen…" Asuna trails off, unable to come up with a sentence she thinks would keep him from worrying needlessly.

Filling in, Setsuna answers, "She seems quite capable as a fighter. Maybe not on her own, but she's been in that mech probably as long as I've been training with my sword."

"I'd still like to make sure she's okay!" protests the boy. He takes her card out and presses it to his forehead. "Reina-san!" he shouts in his mind. "Can you hear me?!"

* * *

Ozzymandus again shoots down all the missiles and begins firing at her again.

Ivory Knight Reina is doing her best to dodge all the bullets being fired at her when something happens that catches her by surprise... She hears Negi's voice.

"_Reina-san! Can you hear me?!_"

"_Negi-sensei? How are you… What… Why_?" She continues dodging bullets.

"_I'm using the pactio card. I wanted to make sure you are okay._"

"_I shouldn't think that is possible considering I'm currently out of my body. And I am okay. I've been doing this for years now so I can handle myself._"

"_You should have told me!_"

"_Seriously Negi, what could you possibly do in this fight?_" Before he can answer that, she finally gets close enough to Ozzymandus to grab its arm. She flies around it and twists the gun out if its hands.

"_As your teacher–!"_

"_Negi, Negi, Negi… You need to stop worrying so much."_ Reina takes the gun and bends the barrel of it. "I broke your gun. Now you're on my terms," she tells the artificial intelligence.

"_Don't be afraid to activate your contract if you think you need it,_" Negi advises her.

"_Then I'd have a shield bouncing around in here. I appreciate your concern Negi-sensei, but you have to trust me. Okay? I have this."_

"_I do trust you Reina-san. You're the only person I know that can do what you do. It's just as a teacher I am concerned about the safety of my students._"

The hands of the New Dawn sink into its arms. "I am not so poorly equipped." Holding its arms forward, flames spew forth.

Reina boosts side to side to put the fires out, only to get blasted with another fiery assault. She flies backwards to get away from the New Dawn. As she does, two large barrels rise up from the shoulder area of her opponent. The cannons lean forward and erupt in two massive yellow lines.

Reina grunts in frustration and side steps the beams, narrowly missing getting hit. "I don't want to, but…" The missile pod on her right back lifts up and forward. She launches a missile in the New Dawn's direction. Leaving a trail behind, it rushes headlong towards the New Dawn. Heat and flames wash over the surface of the New Dawn.

Seemingly as a countermeasure, Ozzymandus shoots flares further up into the air. Their heat and brilliant light overpower Reina's equipment for a brief time. When things die down, Reina starts by looking around to get her bearings. Her eyes and radar seem to confirm that…

There are now six different New Dawns!

If she could open her mouth and have it agape, she would do so right now. Heat signatures, radar pings, everything checks out as being there. Unsure of what to do next, she looks around at four of the various New Dawns, the ones in front, behind her, and to her left and right. She makes a slow spin to try to keep them all in view.

"_Reina-san?! What's going on?_" Negi asks, worrying about the sudden things he is hearing. "_Listen, the card, your card is different! Use the pactio and see what happens._"

"_But if I do… then… I'll not have gotten through this on my own. I've always been able to do this on my own Negi-kun. I… I don't see how this should be any different._"

All the New Dawns begin to charge the cannons. Apparently, the first shot was already charged. All the barrels begin to go through a strange "unlocking" as gear shaped parts expand out and begin to spin as the barrels generate more and more power. The electrical hum becomes quite noticeable.

"Okay, so the first shot wasn't charged…" Reina mutters to herself.

"_Please Reina-san, try the pactio! Maybe it'll help!_"

Just as the New Dawns fires off its energy cannons, Reina shouts "Adeat!"

She remains still for a few moments, sure her circuits were fried. Her arms in front of her face out of natural reaction. When she realizes that she's still conscious, she takes a moment to look around. In fact, everything is fine. It takes a moment, but the way the sunlight plays around her suggests…

"A- An energy barrier?"

"_Are you okay?!_" asks Negi, his mental voice strained.

"I'm fine. Negi-kun… the pactio worked I think."

Negi draws her card and sees the image is different. It now bears the image of the Ivory Knight. It still has Reina's name on it as well as the metallic sheen.

"You know Aniki," interjects Chamo, "she technically has two bodies, so I was sure of this from the moment the pactio happened."

"Really?"

"…No. It was just a guess. I'm really glad I was right."

"Chamo! You can't just guess when it comes to something like this!"

* * *

At Kaminari, the fight is being watched anxiously by a team of scientists and Reina's father.

"Sir… What is that? I didn't…"

William looks at the energy readings on the Ivory Knight. "It's generating an energy bubble?"

"I thought we were still experimenting with that and weren't going to load it on the Ivory."

"We are. We've never been able to get the Particle Maintenance to keep together at larger distances. Something human sized, yes. But something on this scale is still a few years down the road… Unless…"

"Sir?" asks Daiki, Reina's friend and William's employee.

"It's nothing."

* * *

The New Dawn simply hangs in the air. "Data does not mention an energy barrier within your specs."

"_No time to hesitate…!_" Reina acts quickly and slashes at one of the New Dawns. When she does, the illusion of that one is broken, revealing itself to be nothing more than a pod meant to distract radar by giving off several signals that matched the true New Dawn's.

"So that's it? Nothing more than false signals and a holographic field."

They all begin to disperse, putting an ever increasing distance between themselves. The one Reina follows is heading to town. Not wanting that to be the real one, she opens up her engines and catches up as this one flies above town.

People below start panicking and, even though it never helps, run about in random directions. Negi, Asuna, Konoka, and Setsuna can clearly see both machines as they fly over head. The Ivory Knight wraps its arms around… another illusory Dawn.

* * *

Farther away, the Artificer is really keeping his headphones tuned. He walks around like someone on an important phone call, his hands holding the device closer to his ears. Only a creepy smile passes his lips as he looks up and reaches into his inner lab coat pocket.

* * *

The decoy in Reina's hands begins sparking and starts on fire. In response, she flies off and heads to the river. She drops it into the flowing water of the river to prevent the fire from spreading anywhere. Strangely, one of the two remaining New Dawns flies down towards the illusion pod.

Reina can't quite figure out why one of the other two, decoy or not, would choose to get closer in this situation.

"What's the matter, a bug in your tactical software?" No reply comes from it when it lands. She can sense the small shockwaves from each of its steps. "Well, you're the real deal it seems. Now to finish this." She rears back her sword and lashes out at the New Dawn.

It dodges her attack by leaning and aims its shoulder cannons at her. She boosts to her right and avoids the beams. "I've been watching you girl… From the first day you came to Mahora," it says as it stands up properly, its voice markedly different from when it spoke earlier, the tone deeper and more threatening. It fires again, causing Reina to move out of the way once more. This time, the New Dawn predicts where she is going to be and ends up right in front of her. It wraps its arms around her in a bear hug and picks her up off the ground like an older brother.

"I was thinking about taking your body for a while, and then I saw this thing kicking your ass, so I changed my mind. And as soon as I'm done wiping the floor with you, I'll be able to take this mech and cram its foot right up his ass."

"Who are you talking about?!" asks Reina as she struggles against the New Dawn's grip.

"Don't try to cover anything up!"

"I really don't have a clue what you are talking about!" Reina slips down a little and hooks her own arms around the New Dawn. "One thing I never do is reveal my engines full power to anyone." She rises up into the air in one could only describe as a rocket taking off.

The two of them quickly end up above the clouds, the evening sun shining upon them. Reina decides to play with the size of her new energy barrier, drawing it into a tightly concentrated sphere near her chest. "If I… just… do this…!" She rapidly expands the barrier, shoving the New Dawn away. "Heh… Didn't think it'd work."

"_Reina-san? What's going on? You've left our view,_" Negi asks.

"_Nothing to worry about._" As she responds, Reina takes several swings at New Dawn.

She puts on quite a light show as her engines work and her sword cuts the air. Deciding they are high enough, she even lets loose with a salvo of missiles. This time they connect as large parts of the metal plating falls off due to the force of the explosion. Part of the facial plating, a good majority of the torso and some of the limbs are now exposed.

"Damn it!" shrieks the voice of the New Dawn as Reina goes in for the finishing blow.

The energy of the blade rips a hole through the insides of the red mech. Reina follows up by wrapping her legs around the midsection of the New Dawn and shutting down the thrust of her engines. The New Dawn's engines aren't strong enough to keep both mechs aloft, causing both of them to plummet to the ground.

"What the hell are you, crazy?"

"I might ask the same of you. You're not Ozzymandus. Who or what are you?"

"You're really willing to destroy yourself, and that cute human body of yours, to defeat me? Remember, you are just flesh and blood."

"Oh, I won't get destroyed. In fact, I'll likely come out of this drop unscathed. You however, will probably end up getting wiped or disconnected or what have you."

They continue their freefall, neither side trying to change a thing. They fall, and fall, and fall.

"Three… Two… One…" Before Reina can react, the engines of the New Dawn kick in again as the New Dawn locks its arms around Reina. Slowly, the angle at which the two machines are falling, which is to say straight down, begins to arc. If kept, this path will end with both of them crashing in Mahora.

Reina tries adjusting the boosters on her legs, but the New Dawn's controller keeps repositioning its boosters to account for whatever Reina tries to do. Trying what she did last time; Reina tightens her energy barrier and expands it quickly. This time, the New Dawn continues the hold as sparks issue forth from the shoulder joints. The connections are loosened at least giving the mech girl hope that she can break the lock the New Dawn has on her before they both become smoldering heaps.

Negi's voice comes through her mind again. "_Reina-san?! What's happening?! We can see you again and you're falling!_"

"_We're both free falling. If I can't break the hold, we'll end up making a hell of a crater. Have people fled yet?_"

Negi checks around and sees the streets have deserted while he wasn't paying attention. "_There are only a few people left._"

Reina doesn't want to tell Negi what would happen should they both hit the Earth. Needless to say, she'd likely end up severely injured or dead.

This battle has quickly grown on Reina's nerves. Who gave the authority to have a mech battle near the school? Why weren't people evacuated? What happened to Ozzymandus? Something is going on. She plans on getting to the bottom of things when this is over, if she can.

Reina focuses the energy barrier right between her and the New Dawn and fires three more missiles, protecting herself from the point blank range blasts. The ground swells beneath them, approaching closer and closer. She figures these are the last few moments before they both crash and burn, with the New Dawn still not loosening its grip.

Putting all she can into it, she tries to break the hug manually. Servos whine and metal scrapes as she combos that with the shield trick again. She can almost… feel… it… loosening…

Not a moment too soon, Reina breaks free. Tossing the New Dawn to the side, she powers up her engines to their maximum, and does a roll to end right side up. She comes close enough to the ground that she ends up scraping the pavement of the street as she tries to slow down. She can't get into the air soon enough and ends up flying down the street.

It's only now that people panic. Negi and the others can see her fly by above them. She lands anyway and turns around. Negi, of course goes bolting back out into the street. Much like the first time he met her, the sheer scale of the machine leaves him in a sense of awe, compounded by the fact that he's now on the ground as opposed to being in some stands.

"Reina-san!" he shouts up at her.

Looking down she replies, "Get out of the way. There seriously isn't anything you can do here." Reina proceeds to step over him. As the New Dawn is standing up, Reina runs over and plants a hard kick to its head. It flops over as a result.

"This is it. I'm sick of this fight. It's over!" For the second time today, she speaks English. She flares up her sword and holds it to the head of the New Dawn. "I'm just glad no one got hurt." As she moves, a bright beam of light comes from nowhere and strikes the head of New Dawn.

While the new operator of it screams, Reina turns to look where the beam came from. On the ground there is a weird man with scraggly rust orange hair and matching beard and moustache. He drops his weapon and runs up to the New Dawn, slapping a small circular device to the mech when he reaches it. The mech twitches as of going through convulsions and eventually stops.

"I must remember to watch my containment protocols next time."

Reina is confused. "Erm… Excuse me?"

"Oh my, yes. You are excused."

Negi, Chamo, Asuna, Setsuna, and Konoka come running up to the Reina and the weird man.

"I told you I'd be fine, didn't I?" Reina tells her teacher. "Abeat…" After she mutters that, the energy barrier of the pactio dissipates.

Negi smiles at her. "I guess I should have known better." He turns to where the scraggly haired man with the white lab coat was, finding him to be a short distance away already.

"Oh, no you don't." Reina kneels down and places her hand in front of him, blocking his current path. "You seem to know a bit about what's going on. Who do you work for? InfinIT? Schwarzerschutz?"

"Is that supposed to be a threat… Reina Whitehall?" asks the man, putting Reina on guard.

"Okay, that's bordering on creepy," Asuna comments.

After thinking about it for a moment, Reina replies, "I can understand you knowing my name. I'm not unknown, but then again I'm not a major celebrity either. Still though, who are you? Who sent you?"

"I work for myself, or rather I do now. I used to work for Kaminari Grand Industrial, if you must know," he answers.

"So that's it? You're a disgruntled employee?" Asuna asks.

"Disgruntled? Perhaps. It's all in the past now. No real relevance on anything. Except it does have a massive impact on the past. Quite a bit, quite a bit. Yes."

"Firstly, who are you? Secondly, what do you mean?" Reina asks.

"People call me 'The Artificer.' Perhaps we should away to more private surroundings?" asks the Artificer. "Perhaps just the two of us, since I highly doubt these people have any need to hear our conversation."

For once, Reina was glad to have other girls around. "No. Negi and the others will come with us. Coming back out…"

Inside, the pilot can feel her mind return to her body. Outside, Setsuna holsters her sword to better unsheathe it if necessary. This motion doesn't go lost on the Artificer. He has something ready if things go south as well.

"Please don't tarry," issues the Artificer, "it may not look it but I have things to do."

Reina comes down on the winch. Again, fear creeps back into her with the girls being there. But now isn't the time. This man is up to something.

"There's this nice little coffee store down the road–!"

"Blegh, Starbooks?" asks the Artificer, disgust in his voice. "Only if I have to."

Konoka asks, "Is there somewhere else you'd like to go?"

"Preferably someplace quiet and not as filled with people. I'm being asked to talk, not jack my blood pressure. You know," he says, suddenly changing topics, "I'm really not amazed your father has never mentioned me." The lenses attached to the outside of his black steampunk goggles switch around on their own as he looks at her.

Konoka snaps her fingers. "I know the lady at the occult store down the street. She might let us use her séance room."

"Fine by me."

* * *

All of them are eventually seated in the room at the back of the occult shop. Strangely enough, séance room seems to also mean stock room with a table and chairs in it. All the important parties are seated. The Artificer, Reina, Negi, and Konoka. Asuna and Setsuna are standing nearby.

The Artificer remarks, "The atmosphere around here is quite hostile, wouldn't you agree? I didn't expect the third degree when I came here."

"I j- just want some an… swers," Reina states. "You s- seem to know a- an awful lot about m- me."

"I worked for your father's company after all."

"You… You've stated that. W- What exactly did you do?"

"I actually helped design that giant metal body of yours, or rather, the hands and joints. I also designed the flying turrets around the Kaminari building."

"How can we be sure that you're telling the truth?" Asuna asks.

"Quick, tell me… Is William your biological father?"

The pilot shakes her head. "N- No. He ad-opted me and m- my brother. Neither one of us had families."

"So that's his story? Heh. Let me drop a huge shocker on you kid. Your father is just that… Your father. You aren't adopted; William Whitehall _is_ your biological father."

"If he is, why would he lie to me about it? And what happened to my mother then?"

"Well, has he mentioned his wife?"

"Yes."

"Do you know how she died?"

"No."

"Back when you were about five, Schwarzerschutz Special Machine Design decided to send someone in to steal the plans for the Ivory and Ebony, which you and your brother were already chosen to be the pilots of. You were with your mother that day.

"The spy didn't get into the offices without tripping the alarm system, setting my turrets after her. Unfortunately, tragedy struck when she came across you two. Your mother… Your mother was a well trained combatant but she quit before you were born so maybe she was a bit rusty. When the spy came across her she elected to defend you over everything.

"The spy ended up becoming an assassin. She had a sword with her and ended up… cutting your mother down. My turrets caught up to her a moment later, preventing her from doing anything else. Operation Carlsbad, in his 42nd version at the time, was brought up to speed and dispatched to retrieve you.

"Your father was honestly more concerned with you, which is wholly understandable. OC #42 picked you up and shielded you all the way back to a safety room. My turrets eventually ended up getting the case out of her hands but missed trying to stop her from leaving."

"B- But why w- w- wouldn't I remember this?"

"That shoots," states Asuna, "a hole in your story. And I'm going to have to also ask the same question she did. Why would her father lie to her?"

"He offered her up as a sacrificial lamb to test a new and totally unknown technology! She could have ended up dead, mentally challenged, or simply brain dead!" answers the Artificer. "More than likely, he had them fiddle around in your head. Probably so he could distance himself from the situation. Better for you to think he took you in out of love rather than thinking your own father turned you into what you are now by."

"Is that even possible?" asks Negi.

"Y- You're saying th- that everything I know… Is wrong?"

The Artificer stands up. "You should probably ask your dad about this stuff. I've opened the door, but you're the only one who can step through. One last thing before I depart. You look a lot like your mother. She was a beautiful woman and I respected her. That day hurt me deeply and things between me and Kaminari started falling apart that day.

"And when you talk to your father, use my name. Crispin Jones. He'll likely blow his top at the mention of my name."

He stands up and with a flap of coat, prepares to leave.

"One more thing," asks Asuna, "what business, exactly, did you have with that other mech then?"

"Oh. Right. See I created a little artificial intelligence." He sets out a device that looks like mine of sorts. "When it got out I tracked it to this school here. You may or may not have noticed the network being draggy recently. When he eats, computers won't load, emails become lost, and so on. He became a little independent and has been trying like the dickens to get revenge on me for some kind of slight or something. Likely, he was looking at you Reina, what with the mech and all. But when that pod of the red one's got too close he used it as a bridge to take over. The other A.I. is likely destroyed."

Crispin Jones steps to the door and walks out.

Reina continues to sit, all of what the Crispin said still swimming around in her head. Has her father really been lying her whole life? Why would he do such a thing? He removed her memories of her mother… Her memories of him being her father… What else did he remove? Is anything in her head correct? She feels entirely alone.

"Listen… Reina-san…" Asuna says slowly, "Why don't you call your father before you start feeling all crappy?"

Negi agrees. "It would be best. Perhaps this man just has a grudge against your father. Adopted or not, he's still your father. He seems like a really nice guy from what I remember."

"A- And if he is m- my real dad… Why all of the th… ings he did?" asks the despondent girl. "How could he have d- d- done this to me? He to- took my memories away from me. He could have k…" she finds this thought horrible, "He c- could have ended up killing me when they m-messed around in my brain. I d- don't know what to think a- an- anymore. And even then it's probably all wrong."

Setsuna speaks. "It still does not change who you are now. I think you should take Negi-sensei's and Asuna-san's advice and talk to your father first."

"The thing ab… out it is, I was being r- readied for this f- from before I was five. And… my m- mother would have h… ad to have be- been okay with this."

Negi stands up with an air of purposefulness around him. "Come on Reina-san. We're going to talk to your father. Right now."

"Huh?"

"You're going to get into the Ivory Knight, you're going to go to Kaminari, and then you are going to talk with William and find out the truth. I won't sit idly by as one of my students suffers with a life crisis."

"We'll go too if that's okay," Asuna says.

Amazing Negi, Reina nods. "P- Please."

"Okay. Let's go to Kaminari and get this sorted out."

* * *

For Reina, piloting the Ivory Knight feels like a hollow experience now. Could her father really be capable of such things? She realizes it's too late now to expect things to be different. As she flies, she thinks about what she's going to say to him, what she's going to ask him. There are so many things floating around in her head. A real father, a real mother, the fact they were willing to perform a massive operation on her to test an unknown technology, all the lies… Needless to say, today is ending on a sour note.

She has Asuna, Negi, Konoka, and Setsuna riding along in her cabin.

"I'm sorry guys… Let me find something to watch at least." The screen in the cabin blinks on. "We've got some magical girl anime," the screen changes before everything she mentions, "Spongebob, news, some game show, infomercial…" she trails off but the channels continue to change anyway.

"Reina-san?" Negi asks.

"Huh?! Oh, I'm sorry. Just everything right now has me kinda scattered. I'll kick it up a bit so we don't waste the rest of the day on my issues." She opens her large booster up and flies as fast as she can to Kaminari.

* * *

Reina's arrival takes a few people by surprise, despite being tracked on radar. William is notified right away, allowing him to be ready to meet her. She breaks the horizon rather quickly, a glowing white tail behind her from the flames her engines are making. Nothing seems to out of the ordinary. William stands in front of Reina as she lands.

"What brings you home all of the sudden?" William asks the mech standing in front of him.

Reina says nothing; instead she opens her hatch door and brings her hands up, allowing the group inside to walk out on to her hands. She lowers them down and stands up, preparing to face this man, father or not.

"Well hello. Nice to meet you all and Negi-san again." The group, given the disturbing meeting with the Artificer, seems a little cautious around him. "Something happen to Reina? Something happen to Mahora or someone?"

"Err… Weeeell…" says Asuna.

The winch lowers and Reina rides it down. The look on her face is one of someone who is about to shatter. William can see tears forming in her eyes.

"What is the matter?" He tries getting closer but she ducks away from him. "Is there something I did wrong?"

Reina inhales deeply despite the forming hitches of crying. "I meet someone today… And he said he used to work for you."

"Uh… Okay. Who?" With her reaction he has a fair guess.

"His name was Crispin Jones." The mention of this name causes her father to wince. Apparently he does know him. "And… he told me some things."

William remains quiet for a moment. "What… What exactly did he tell you?"

"He said you are my father, my real father. He also said my mother was… murdered right in front of me."

Everything that had been building in William for the last 10 years suddenly lets loose like water bursting forth from a collapsing dam. "Oh god Reina…" Tears flow down his cheeks. "I'm so sorry! You and your mother meant everything to me. When I lost her, I was so afraid! I wondered what kind of horrible effects that day would have on you so I could only think of… removing those memories.

"I ended up deciding that it would be best if you didn't know that I let your mother die, that it would best if you thought I wasn't your father. I'm no good without your mother, but I knew you still needed me so I kept telling you I was your adoptive father. Best you think that your real parents were gone and I never let your mother die. I'm so sorry. I really am." He drops his head. "I won't expect you to forgive me."

Reina shakes her head. "I… don't know what to think. You've acknowledged that Crispin is right, but that means you've lied to me for most of my life. I should be mad… but you're still my father."

"I won't ever lie to you again," her father says and gives her a hug. "I'll tell you everything you want to know about your mother. Would you like to see a picture of her? I made sure to take a lot of her and you, especially when you were born."

Reina nods again and they both begin to head over to a limousine. The others are a bit apprehensive about going along, what with it being a family moment and all.

William turns to them and motions to come. "I know it's probably uncomfortable right now, but there's no need to be left alone out here."

* * *

They arrive at the Whitehall residence about half an hour later. Reina has quelled her tears for now, looking as if she's okay as the group files out of the car. The house they are in front of is huge, with four large pillars frame the entrance nicely.

"Wow, this place is huge. How many girls in our class have large houses now?" Asuna boggles.

Konoka adds happily, "It's kinda like my home."

"N- No… Not e- everyone can l… ive in a forest c- c- castle," Reina tells her.

They eventually make their way inside, and sit down in a comfortably appointed room. OC #45 comes in shortly with a tray of tea, coffee, and treats of an assorted variety.

"Whoa!" Asuna says. "Who's the big fella?"

"I am Operation Carlsbad, the 45th version," the big blue robot introduces himself, "I am pleased to make all of your acquaintances. And it is nice to meet you again Negi Springfield. I hope you remember me."

"I do."

The four red lights around OC #45's camera blink happily. "Memories are the lasting bonds of friendship. Hopefully you will all remember me as I will remember you. Perhaps if you could all say your names, I could add them to my memories." Once the others introduce themselves he thanks them, bows, and heads out of the room.

"I apologize for any rudeness he may have shown you in addressing you directly. We've had problems with programming honorifics. It's like he ignores them," explains William.

Negi is fine with it. "It's okay. He means well and that's what counts."

"Silly thing was made as a combat machine but he actually prefers making friends and serving them food. Okay, now Reina… I have a picture of your mother I've always kept locked in this desk. I have plenty actually, but this one means the most to me." He gets up and moves over to the desk in question. From his pocket he produces a small golden key. With it, he unlocks the drawer and pulls the picture in question.

"This was before you were even being thought of…" he heaves heavily. Slowly, he hands her the picture. "We had this taken in a park in Boston in the U.S. She said she always liked the trees there so I pay for the upkeep to it. I figure it's something I can do that would make her happy."

Reina looks at the picture and can instantly see what the Artificer meant by looking a lot like her mother. Negi peeks at the picture as tears form in Reina's eyes again. Her mother had long white hair and emerald green eyes and Negi could swear it was of an older Reina.

"What is mom's name?" Reina asks her father.

"She was blessed with the name Lorelei Morgen, but changed it when we got married, taking my last name."

"She's pretty," comments Konoka while she leans in. "She looks like she could be Chizuru's mom, with the hair and chest. I see where you get it now. You should let your hair grow."

Reina turns as red as red can be. "I- I'm fine."

"Wow, you do look a lot like her," Negi says in agreement.

Well, it turns out there is a deeper red color. "Th- thank you…"

William mentions, "I have a tape of your mother you can look through when you get the time."

"Thank you, dad. I do have one last question for you."

"Anything honey."

"Why me? Why did you and mom decide to make me the pilot to the Ivory Knight? It was a very dangerous thing to do, wasn't it? Why was I selected?"

"That… is a different story. We weren't going in totally blind. I had worked on, and personally tested a similar system a while ago called the "H.A.L.O. System." The "High Algorithm Logical Operating" System. The user, or rather I, would wear a ringlet around my head and it would allow a control style that was similar to what you do, but my mind was technically in two places, and it was difficult to utilize. It was around the same time that the "Human Digitalization Frontier Program" came into being.

"We postulated that it would be possible to come up with a system where the mind could be placed within the machine yet the brain wasn't removed. We ended up creating the stuff in your head. As for _why_ you chosen… can you kids keep a secret and suspend your disbelief for a moment?"

Everyone else nods their heads.

"Good," William nods. "Okay, I know this is going to be hard to believe but… magic exists." Everyone else remains quiet. "I'm being truthful here!"

"We already know," Konoka blurts. "Negi-sensei is a mage."

"Konoka-san!" Negi squeals.

"What?" she giggles. "He already knows about magic."

"Y- You're a mage?" asks William. Negi confirms this making him sigh with relief. "Okay then. I suppose I won't have to go and describe a bunch of technical terms then seeing as you didn't react to the reveal. Anyway, Reina's mother was part of a special order of knights that served during the war. The knights were sought after beforehand due to their magical abilities. Not so much how much magic they had, but their inborn ability to filter it, refine it, and how fast they could cast because of it. Unfortunately, she didn't tell me much else."

"I think I heard of some group like that during class once," Negi comments.

"She was quite deadly with a sword and magic. I used to love watching her show off. That and her hair, but I digress. I've never been to the Magic World, and she never wanted to go back, basically telling me she was afraid to. When you were born Reina, she knew you would have magical potential like her… and it scared her. She was afraid someone from there could come and use you or would try to harm you in some way so she wanted a way to block your magical power.

"We ended up linking it to the Human Digitalization Frontier Project. By doing what we did to very specific locations of the brain, we were able to block your magic from responding to you and make it so you could do what you do with the Ivory Knight. We never intended for you to find out… We never intended for a lot of what happened to happen, but it did. And I can't ever forgive myself.

"I carry something with me to remind myself of my greatest failure, and I think you should see it." He reaches into his front coat pocket and pulls out a very familiar looking style of card.

"It's a…" Asuna says.

"A pactio card, yes. I was her partner, but… as you can see, it…" he swallows, "is inactive." He looks at it, his dead card, and closes his eyes briefly. He remembers her so clearly.

Reina inquires, "You okay dad?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah, just reflecting a little. When you get some time, I'll have to take you to where she's buried. But you guys have school tomorrow and it's getting late."

"Right." Negi stands up along with the students and William.

Everyone heads to the door, ready to head back to Mahora.

"Reina," William says as they are leaving.

"Yeah?"

He hugs her. "It's nice to have my daughter back."

"And it's good that I have my dad." She hugs him back.

* * *

That night, William sleeps in his bed as usual, but tosses and turns in discomfort. He looks at the empty spot on the other side of the bed. The thoughts of Lorelei running through his mind are keeping him up. He rubs the empty spot begins to think, which just makes it worse.

He doesn't fall asleep and stay asleep for some time.

**Negima: Femella Intra Machina Chapter 10: End**

**The End of the Chapter Stuff:** So now we have a major development, and while this certainly may have seemed like an infodump, I've only really scratched the surface. While we now have some answers, many things are still buried and unknown.

Also, this chapter took a while because I bought all the Fallout 3 downloadable content and was (not really) busy freeing Anchorage, helping the Outcasts, wandering around Pittsburgh, and walking around a bog avoiding "Swampfolk." However, I've recently been abducted by aliens, but seeing as this might be my last adventure in the Capital Wasteland, I should be back on some regular schedule eventually.

And for anyone interested, I have another fic out called "The King of Dust." It's rated M so that's why you may not have seen it. So check it out and its one chapter so far, if that's something you feel you want to do.

This chapter was powered by "Brainsick Metal," an OC Remix of the "Spark Mandrill theme," "Lonely Petals," another OC Remix, this one of the "Red Soil Swampy Area" theme from Super Metroid, and the BlazBlue Original Soundtrack.

**Thanks this Chapter: **The Ansem Man for shooting ideas off of, and Eternal-Longing for being a draconian proofreader. I mean that in a good way.

**Thanks for reading, and reviewing if you do.**


	11. Preparations

**Disclaimer:** Legal words, blah blah blah, only own my own original characters.

**Author's Notes:** Sorry for the wait anyone who was eagerly awaiting this. What you are reading now is the proofed version of this. What was here before was the unproofed version. So feel free to read, enjoy, and review. I hope you like the chapter.

**Negima: Femella Intra Machina**

**By Dark Dragon Dave**

**Chapter 11: Preparations**

_The Mech Fight in Mahora_

_By Kazumi Asakura_

_Yesterday saw quite the spectacle near Mahora as two giant mechs did battle on the outskirts of town. One, belonging to Mahora student Reina Whitehall, daughter to William Whitehall, the owner of Kaminari Grand Industrial, creators of the mech she piloted, and another owned by InfinIT Foundation and operated by one of their artificial intelligences._

_While __questions__ about how the fight arose, due to InfinIT refusing questions posed by phone and email, Kaminari and Reina Whitehall were more than willing to speak about their involvement in the affair._

_In a phone call to Whitehall-san, he answered a number of questions._

"_I was contacted about 30 minutes before the attack, actually," he said. "When that happened I did my best to find out who cleared such a thing and get it stopped. Unfortunately, the process to get through the system surrounding these kinds of matches is a difficult process and even someone like me has a hard time getting information." He went on to say, "It's an asinine system made to prevent liability of those who allow such things to come to pass."_

_When asked about who he meant, he explained, "There's a part of the government that regulates the interactions of mech companies. This includes what happened yesterday. Usually these things take place in deserted areas far from towns and cities. All I know is that someone's getting an email."_

_Reina Whitehall, pilot of the white mech known as the Ivory Knight, had this to say. "I tried really hard to keep anyone from getting hurt and anything from getting damaged. I'm sorry for all the panic I caused."_

_It should be noted how Rein__a actually pilots her mech. As revealed__ in a high level industry meeting several months ago, her mind resides within the machine, allowing her an unprecedented level of control. She's quite literally a "femella intra machina." (A play on "deus ex machina" though some would argue that it should be intus and not intra, but she is just short of becoming the machine while still being human.)_

_The dean of Mahora's schools, Konoe Konoemon__,__ said this, "I commend Reina-san for keeping everyone from getting hurt. Yes there was some property damage but these things can be replaced and repaired, lives cannot. I think she showed an excellent amount of school pride in trying to keep everyone and everything safe._

"_It is my hope that the InfinIT Foundation will be forthright in apologizing for the panic they caused Mahora and the trouble they made for the people involved in the fight directly or indirectly."_

_As of the time this article went to press, no one at InfinIT returned our calls._

_

* * *

_

The afternoon sun shines through the windows of the university building, but that doesn't matter deep within the bowels of Chao and Satomi's scientific citadel. The two aren't alone as Hisao and Corentin are in their lab as well. The four talk while the science girls work on a computer bank.

"Why did you want us here?" asks Hisao. "I thought you wanted us to go around and get familiar with this place."

"Did you see the news?"

"I tend to ignore the news. It's mostly tripe anyway."

"Well, Reina-san has become quite famous around here. Ever since Kazumi-san's front page article about the fight in the student newspaper," Chao says and hands him a copy.

He glances at it and sets it aside. "I'm not here to become a local celebrity. You hired us, and now we're just spinning our wheels."

"Trust me; it is best if you are naturalized. Besides, right now, I want you to be familiar with my friend here."

"Satomi Hakase. I saw you when I looked up the kid teacher. This group of girls, all of them from your class, were swooning over him the other day," Hisao's tone is as cold as ever. "Bunch of fools. So other than the obvious, why bother with getting along with her? Corentin and I are nothing more than foot soldiers, correct?"

"Aww, come on now. You're a 15 year old boy and you aren't interested in girls?"

"No, I'm not interested in wasting my time." Hisao crosses his arms.

"Spoken like someone who has had no time to be himself. So, are you calling girls a waste of time then?"

Hisao closes his eyes for a moment before opening them to answer. "Listen, we haven't done anything since we've gotten here. Despite the pyrotechnics and cryotechnics from the other day… Just forget it," he groans out of frustration. His hands work their way to his temples.

"Okay then," Chao answers with a smile. "Satomi…" she whispers in her friend's ear, "you know how you've wanted to check out the connections behind Reina's ears?"

"Yeah…"

Chao's expression becomes wily. "Hisao has the exact same things behind his. It's the exact same system that Reina has."

Satomi bolts up and gives Hisao an intense stare.

"Eh… What are you…" Hisao stumbles to speak. If anyone were to ask Corentin, this is the first time that Hisao has looked confused that the French boy can remember.

Like an Olympic sprinter, Satomi dashes over to Hisao in a flash. She turns his head around a little and brushes his hair back, causing Hisao to turn slightly red.

"Ooooh… I have so many things I want to ask you about this." She runs her finger around the connection and gets uncomfortably close to her new prey. Corentin gives her a look she can't see. "And experiments I want to run."

Regaining his composure, Hisao begins to grumble. "You're starting to step over the line." He grabs her wrist and moves her hand.

Corentin seems to relax a bit, but still remains attentive.

"Hey, we've not had the time to get some food. What do you think about all of us going and getting something to eat?" suggests Chao. "We can talk business and the two of you can get a little more familiar with the school?"

Hisao groans. "Fine, but I don't want to be seen by Reina. She shows up and I'm gone. Got it?"

"Yes yes," Chao waves off his brooding. "Now let's go get something to eat."

* * *

The aftermath of Chachamaru's kick a couple of days ago left Negi with a nice, foot shaped bruise on his chest. As he looks at it, he can swear he can read the size of her shoe. Brushing it causes a slight pain. The healing salve Konoka spreads on it reduces the pain and leaves a strange cooling sensation.

"If you're really interested in training in both magic and combat Negi," Asuna suggests, "I can get everyone together again and help you out with your training with Ku-Fei."

"I think I'll be fine. I just have to focus. No need to get a bunch of people involved with this."

"We've all got our own training we'd like to do. Sorta like a group gathering."

"That's fine," says Negi. "Perhaps you could work in some studying too. Don't think I have forgotten about your grades."

Asuna jerks back. "Hey hey hey… I'm trying. I really am. Maybe if you loosened up on restrictions…"

"You know I can't."

Asuna laughs it off. "I'll get everyone and we can have a bit of a training day."

"Okay. It does sound a bit fun and useful."

Fourteen minutes later, all the assembled girls from the group that have pactios with Negi are assembled. Plus Makie and Ku Fei.

"W- Why am I- I here?" Reina asks, "I d… don't have anything I c- can train for."

"I brought you because you have that shield. We can use you to train against shield users and you can learn to use your shield better. See? Everyone wins!"

Reina thinks that training with them is an absolutely dreadful prospect. "I'm… a t- tr- training dummy?"

Asuna tilts her head slightly. "I wouldn't put it as such. We don't want you to just stand there. Fight back, you know."

"But I d- don't have a w- weapon. What a- am I supposed to… to fight b- back with? A s… stick?"

"Well… There is that _other_ pactio…"

Reina shakes her head. "N- No way! I'm n- not touching that at all! B- Besides, it w- w- was a shovel."

"So that's what it was… Weird. Anyway… we need to find you a weapon. You can't have a shield without a sword or something. It wouldn't be normal."

"I c- could alway- ways just sit all th- this out…"

"I know," Asuna snaps her fingers, "Why not ask your dad? With them working on weapons, maybe they have something sitting around."

Reina certainly isn't going to trouble her dad for something as minor as that. "It w- would t- take too long to de- liver. And th- that's if he e- even had anything _to_ deliver. I d- on't r- re- member any weapons just l- laying about."

"What's going on?" Setsuna asks, while Negi begins his training behind them.

Answers Asuna, "Well I was thinking that if Reina-san had a sword too, we could get some training in on what could be like a real knight. What do you think?"

"It's not a bad idea, but she doesn't have a weapon… What about her other pactio?"

Konoka hears what they are talking about. "The pactio I'm so jealous of. I want two pactios. The possibility of different magical artifacts is a fun thing to think about." Her cheer is practically infectious.

"I do see her issue with using it though. It was made with that Fate boy. I would be leery about using it myself. Besides, are we even sure it's a sword?"

"I- It's a sho… shovel."

Setsuna tells her, "That makes it even creepier. I would just keep it locked away if I were you."

Asuna adds, "So that leaves her with asking her dad. Seeing if they have any weapons around they may have used to base the bigger weapons on."

"I _have_ thought of something, but… it is rude of me."

Konoka asks, "Se-chan?"

"Please forgive me for speaking out of turn Reina-san, but your father did mention that your mother was a knight. Perhaps she owned a sword…" There is a short silence following her idea. "I told you it was rude. I apologize." She bows out of forgiveness.

"Reina-san could use that to get closer to the mother she never knew…" Konoka muses.

"Waaah!!! Reina-san, did I hear them right?!" Makie blurts out of nowhere. "When did you find out about your mother? And she was a knight? That's so cool!"

"Eh… Heh heh… Y- Yeah." Reina really wants to use her phone now.

"I think it's awesome! Please Reina-chan, you have to see if your mother left anything for you like that. It'd be a huge connection."

"Shouldn't you be training for your gymnastics right now?" asks Asuna.

"Well, yeah… but now that I found out Reina has a chance to connect to her mother, I don't think she should delay."

With all of this undue attention, especially from girls, Reina starts to slink away while she speaks. "I… I do- don't see why it m- m-matters to you."

"She's just stalling," Asuna explains. "Maybe if she wouldn't do this, she wouldn't need to train."

"I! I am not stalling!" Makie protests.

"For a- all I know, th- there may not- t even be… be anything." Reina is noticeably farther away from the group. "I… I'll ju- jus- just sit o… over there." She quickly backs away and finds a bench farther away from the girls.

Setsuna reviews Reina's reactions and the sounds in her voice. "I think I've noticed something about Reina-san."

"What's that?" Konoka asks.

"She's not stuttering. She's… scared."

"Scared? Of what?" Asuna asks.

"Well, perhaps she's got agoraphobia?" offers Konoka.

"Say what now?" asks Asuna.

Konoka explains, "It's a fear of open spaces."

Asuna shrugs it off. "Either way, there's nothing we can do about it, right? Let's just leave her alone for now."

"But…" Makie mumbles, "I wanted to see the sword."

Asuna sighs.

* * *

At Kaminari Grand Industrial, a large red arm is being attached to a larger red machine. As the top of the arm meets the area where it would attach to the shoulder, a number of metal tendrils spin and extend their way out of both the body and the arm, connecting the two in a twist on limb reattachment. The arm gets forcibly attached and is soon moving on its own.

Watching nearby is William Whitehall and the head of security Smith, the same one from the expo so many months ago. William sighs and becomes inattentive, looking at some far off place only he can see.

"Umm… Sir?" asks Smith.

"Huh?! Sorry, what?" William asks as he snaps back from his mental vacation, almost falling out of his chair on arrival.

"Are you sure you should be here? You've been acting off recently. Maybe you should go home."

While readjusting his seat, William offers, "No… No. I'm good. Fine. If I work I can keep my mind off of other things."

"I don't mean to speak above my position sir," rejects the security manager, "but no you can't. You've been wandering in and out all day."

"Maybe you're right Edgar. But…"

"Again, I don't mean to speak above my position, but seriously, you really don't need to be here. We appreciate all the effort you put into the company, but you should just go home and relax or something. You're no good to anyone if you really aren't here with them."

William sits quietly for a bit before he answers, "Yeah, you're right." He stands up. "As we all know, the Red Dragon is a very powerful machine, so just make sure everyone takes every safety precaution."

"Of course sir."

With that, William walks away, his brain quickly going on another trip.

As he arrives home, his phone rings. He opens it quickly when he sees the name. "Hello!"

"Hi Dad…"

"What's up Reina? Something wrong?" he asks while he walks inside. OC #45 greets him silently.

Kaminari decided to see if they could market a mass produced model as a replacement for a maid by balancing cost effectiveness and utility, the cost being the big hurdle. Sticker shock isn't something people like to experience. Plus his size is a bit restrictive.

"No… I… Well… I was wondering something."

"Yeah?"

"You said mom was a knight, right?"

"Yes."

"Did… she have a sword."

"Yes. Why?"

"See… Some of the other girls were doing sword training today, and after thinking about it, I thought it might be a way to help get over my fear."

"It's nice to see you are taking an active approach towards conquering your fear, but there's just one thing… Lore was always a little obscure about her equipment. I can bring it out to you, at least to look at it." William begins walking to his room, taking an elevator when he gets to it.

"Okay. Thanks."

"Couple of things though, I'll be bringing Masumi Makamura and OC #45 with me. Also…"

"Also?"

"It's just that it's really intimidating. I was never sure how she lifted it. I'm sure that since it's from the magic world that has something to do with it. You'll just have to see it when we get there." He steps into his room and walks over to a large metal door.

"Okay. Well, I guess I'll see you shortly."

"Yep."

"Thanks dad. Goodbye."

"Bye Reina." William hangs up and slides his phone back into his suit pocket. He inputs the combination by spinning the dial on the door. The handle clicks loudly as he lifts up on it.

Inside the safe is a large metal sword, looking far too large for a normal human to carry, and a suit of armor, with the lower half of a blue trimmed, white tabard falling between the legs, making it look like the lower half of a Chinese dress.

The first thing he does when he sees the large metal slab is sigh. _"Is it okay? Wasn't this the kind of thing we wanted her to avoid? She did say it was just training… What if it breaks though? I'll lose another part of you. Then again, it's pretty solid. I know you once said she'd be able to use it, but will she? Should she? What if I somehow prevented that?"_ Many other questioning thoughts plow through his mind before he decides no harm can come from it.

He pouts a bit and walks over to an intercom system near the door to the room. "Hey, OC #45… Come to my room. I need you to help me move something."

During the wait, he phones up Masumi, trusting her with OC should something go wrong. Shortly, the big blue robot enters through William's open bedroom door, his heavy footfalls giving him away well before he entered.

"What do you need me to lift?"

"That sword in there," he points to the large metal object in the safe. "We're taking it to Reina."

OC's lights blink in quick succession. With almost no resistance, he picks the sword up by the handle, keeping the blade part down. "It's very dusty…"

"It's been in there a while. So do you feel the weight?"

"Yes. But the weight is off, being slightly heavier than it should be. Also, when I picked it up, I could sense a slight shift in the center of gravity. Like the inside was liquid."

"Really… Hmm…" William crosses his arms, pouts his lower lip, looks up, and taps his foot. "Inside is liquid… _And_ heavier than it should be… The only thing I can think of is the inside being some kind of heavier metal than what it's made of.

Ah well, it's not like this follows any kind of logic to begin with. Let's get this moved to the helicopter."

"Perhaps it is mercury!" OC interjects. "Assuming the same volume of lead and mercury, mercury is heavier."

"You think this could be a mercurial sword? I've heard about them… My old Dungeons and Dragons group back in college…"

"My analysis supports the idea of mercury as it is the only metal that is liquid at room temperature."

Off handedly, William comments, "I wish she was still here…"

"Reina?" asks OC #45.

"No. Not that I don't miss Reina, mind you."

William can hear 45's drives working. The only information in his banks should be the picture he has of her, and even with that he's never expressly said anything about who she was. Assuming the data wasn't lost in his last change.

"I cannot recall—!"

"Just leave it alone," William advises as he closes the safe, not wanting to churn up old memories more than he already has. "We've got to go."

OC #45 plods along behind as the both leave the room.

* * *

The group of Chao, Satomi, and the two boys approach a busy lunch wagon. Hisao, who is standing at the back of the group, keeps an eye out for any tall, white-haired, tomboys with green eyes. They all end up sitting at a table, with Chao sitting on one side of Hisao and Corentin sitting on the other.

"This really is almost like a date," asks Chao, "wouldn't you agree?"

Hisao huffs. "You have a talent for ruining people's appetites."

"Come on now, don't be like that." Chao offers him a polite smile. "Here, I'll order you something special. I know the chef." She waves another girl over who politely takes their order. With only Hisao to go, Chao motions for the girl to lower down, using this to order Hisao's food by whispering the order. "Okay? Thanks."

Corentin begins asking questions about what was ordered. Never really having experienced Japanese cuisine leaves him with all kinds of questions.

"If there's anything else you want to eat, feel free to ask me," Chao tells the French boy. "So, Hisao-san, feeling a bit more cheerful now?" Hisao simply levels a stare at her that says he recognizes her, but he refuses to respond. "I think you need to relax."

Exasperated, Hisao tells her, "What I need is to make sure I'm not spotted."

"You're being paranoid."

"I'm sorry, do you want a fight breaking out in Mahora _before_ your Rube Goldberg-like machinations have fully come to fruition?" Hisao stands up, giving him an angry air.

"What was that about not being seen? Because you certainly are making a spectacle of yourself."

Hisao seethes, "You are seriously pushing my buttons."

Corentin cuts in. "Down you should calm, Mon Hisao. As Madame Rachel tells us, 'the client is right as they are the blood of the company.'"

That does little to quell the brewing storm. "She can cram it wherever she feels like sticking it as far as I am concerned! After Reina's little altercation yesterday, I'm sure InfinIT would love to get their hands on me."

Having had enough, Chao calls his bluff. "Fine, go. I'm sure Corentin will be more than enough for my needs."

He's never seen Hisao angry, but with the hardware access he has, Corentin figures his friend could level Mahora if he wanted to. There'd be no way Schwarzerschutz would allow Corentin to come back after Hisao screws up the contract. And he is certain InfinIT wouldn't want him, which would mean that he'd be out on his own. And…

"Bu- But proven by that fight, even InfinIT is less than calamari, correct?"

"It's _Kaminari_ damn it!" Hisao rubs his temples. "Whatever. I'm done here. Corentin, obviously you're free to do whatever you want." Hisao turns and leave the table, putting his hands in his pockets as he walks in the direction of the woods east-northeast of Mahora.

Corentin quickly begs his pardon and leaves to follow Hisao.

"Aren't you going to stop the both of them?" Satomi asks.

Chao replies with a smile, "If I thought he'd actually leave, I'd have stopped him already."

* * *

As Hisao walks past the housing district, the noise from a helicopter attracts his attention, drowning out anything Corentin, who is following right behind, is saying to him. Focusing on the noise, he soon locates the source and watches as a familiar helicopter flies by in the distance, its corporate logo barely visible.

He squints. "William… Well, well, well." Corentin bumps into him as he suddenly stops. Hisao practically knocks Corentin out of the way as he gives chase to the Kaminari company helicopter.

Corentin heaves a heavy breath and follows after again. Neither boy can match the speed of the Kaminari emissary before it disappears from site below the top of the buildings.

* * *

The sounds of swords clashing, fists flying, ninja arts, and gymnastics fill the small area where Negi and his slowly increasing group of girls are training, well all except one. She is content for now to sit on a bench and watch the others.

Negi especially seems to be putting his all into training. Reina doesn't know what drives him, but she's definitely impressed with how quickly he learns things. In the short time he's been working with the Ku Fei girl, his form has improved. The feeling that she is just wasting time quickly sinks in.

"Ah! I still haven't joined a club either!" She quickly amends, "But I haven't had the time… and they're filled with girls." She catches herself shuddering, and sighs. "I'm pathetic."

The quickly loudening sound of something approaching attracts everyone's attention skyward. Reina knows it right away as her father's helicopter. The thought of this makes her slightly embarrassed. Despite that, she stands up and stretches out, ready to go meet her dad.

"Hey wait!" Kaede calls out from behind her. "That was a helicopter that belongs to you, right?"

"I… w- well… i- it's not m- m- mine, strictly speaking." Reina is panicking on the inside. "It be- belongs to the Ka… min- n- ari company."

"Would you mind if I come along?"

"_Damn it! NO! NONONONONO!!! Go away! GRAaahhAhaHHg! Wait! This isn't helping._" She takes a few deep breaths. "_Fear is the mind killer… Fear is the mind killer… Fear is the mind killer…_"

Practically choking it up, Reina is able to answer. "Not at all."

Kaede gives one of her usual smiles. "Okay. It's kind of hard to get any effective training done in town anyway. Usually I head out to the forest and camp there on the weekends."

"I- I feel l- like I'm j… just sort of sp- spinning my wheels. I s- see everyone t- training and I get th- the feeling I… I'm left out."

"I suppose it is hard to have a training partner when you're a pilot of a giant mech."

Reina keeps reciting the 'Litany Against Fear' in her mind as she walks with Kaede. "I- I had one… But no- w- w when I'm at home, I usu… ally train in a simul- l- lation."

They continue chatting and after a long walk they come to where Reina's father landed, in front of the administration building. He, along with OC #45 and Masumi are standing next to the helicopter, already met by Konoemon.

* * *

The elder Konoe asks, "Do you have to park there every time you come here in that thing?" His tone isn't angry.

"I keep telling you that you need a helipad. Otherwise I'd have to land way over by the aviation club's place and well… I'm lazy. Plus, I'm traveling heavy this time." William opens the pilot side hatch and OC #45 comes out, wielding the large metal sword while his blue paint job shimmers in the sun.

"Oh my… He's very big, isn't he?"

"Not really. But the reason I brought him along is because I got a call from Reina stating a bunch of other girls were doing some sword training, and she wanted to know if we had one around she could use. And I happened to have this." He points to the large slab of metal.

"Is that a fake or perhaps part of a cosplay perhaps?"

"No. It belonged to my wife… That's also something I need to speak with you about."

The old man raises an eyebrow. "Oh?"

"See… I'm Reina's biological father."

"But you've said that you adopted her. Why wouldn't you tell her such a thing?"

"That's a long story, and I came clean with her the other day. She came home, practically in tears, and when she asked me about it, I realized I just couldn't lie to her anymore."

"I know that it is none of my business, and I am sure you had your reasons, but still… To damage her psyche like that."

"Yeah. What can I say? I'm an idiot. If you've got some time, I feel that talking about it helps heal things." He would ask Masumi if she didn't mind waiting, but she is busy keeping OC #45 from walking off.

"That's true. Mind if I take a seat then?"

"Feel free."

With that, Konoemon sits on the edge of the floor of the helicopter and listens to William's story. He explains the history of what happened when Lorelei died, and how he was able to remove her memories of the event. He mentions the Magic World, and Konoemon tells him he knows of it. William even tells him about Crispin Jones and how he figures into Reina finding out.

"I must say," the older man says, "he sounds a bit dangerous."

"You don't know the half of it. If he's here, I'd be on alert. I know we are."

"I'll make sure security is notified. So with your wife being from the magic world, does Reina have any magical powers?"

William shakes his head. "No. When we had her, Lorelei was afraid of something she never told me about. And she wanted to make sure that no elements from the magical world would find any use in her. So part of her abilities are also a preventative measure. She has magical power but she can never access it."

Konoemon mulls over those words. "I can understand such feelings."

"Anyway, about this sword, it is okay if she has such a thing on campus, isn't it? I don't want to violate any rules or anything."

"We allow certain students to have such things. Reina seems like she would be trustworthy. My only concern is if she can even lift that sword."

"Her mother could. I can't. If genetics apply, I'd say she has a 50/50 chance." William's attention gets drawn to Reina and another girl coming towards them. He never thought he'd live to see the day. "Here she is now."

"H- Hello d- d- dad," she greets, still violently aware she has Kaede with her.

"Hey. Who's your friend?"

"Kaede Nagase, sir. A classmate of Reina-san's." She bows as he does in return.

"Nice to meet you," William greets, "I am William Whitehall, Owner of Kaminari Grand Industrial and Reina's father."

Reina speaks up. "D- Did you bring it?"

"Yeah," William answers, "it's with…" He looks around quickly and sporadically. "Where's OC #45? He was here a little bit ago. He has the sword since there's no chance I can lift it."

"Is there anything to worry about?" Konoemon asks the company head.

"Only if you worry about being 'friended' to death. See, he is, or rather, should be a combat machine. But no matter how hard we try, he's more interested in making friends and meeting people."

"That speaks volumes about the world," the old man observes.

"I couldn't agree more." He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a small device about the size of small television remote. He holds it above his head and presses a button on it. "That should get his attention and bring Masumi-san back too."

Sure enough, OC #45 tromps in from around a building, huge sword in hand with no sign of Masumi following him. "I made three friends while I was away," he comments, seemingly proud of the achievement.

"Where's Masumi?"

"She stopped at a water fountain. She was following along but I think I'm faster than her."

"Oh. Okay. Well, would you kindly give Reina that sword, and be careful not to let it land on her or anything," orders William.

OC #45 does as he is told and puts the sword where Reina can grab the handle.

"Th- This is a sword? I- It's huge!" Reina can't believe the sword OC is handing her. "It l- looks like a giant b- br- brick of metal with a cutting edge!

The grip sits just lower than chest level, with a spherical, red ruby pommel set in four golden claws. The blade is wider than her waist and comes to a flat beveled tip with two triangular protrusions on each edge, much like an executioner's sword, but definitely combat capable. There is no quillian since the sword is so wide. It is still shiny and was obviously well taken care of during it's time of major service.

Reina reaches out for it, fully prepared to let it drop should it be too heavy. When OC finally relinquishes his grip, Reina feels the sword get… lighter? She was fully expecting to be dodging out of the way of a falling toe-breaker.

She tells her father, "I- I thought you said- d this was r- real…"

"Your mother could use it, so I think it's only natural that you can too."

As she moves it around, she can feel it changing how it handles. "It's w- we… weird. It f- feels like its weight is sh… shifting."

"OC and me think it is because the inside is hollow and filled with an amount of mercury, which allows for more power behind the swing. I've heard about them in fantasy games and novels."

Konoemon mentions, "I read a book a while back with one in it. It was used mainly for executions."

"Uhh…" Reina doesn't know what to think with that information.

"But given the size of that one, I'd say that's far from the point," he finishes. "The tip, while flat, does have an edge. I don't really know what to make of it. I am not a sword expert."

"I h- have one quest- ion… I- Is it o- okay for me to ha… have this?"

"I see no reason for you not to. You'll have to be added to a list of students cleared for weapon ownership, and you'll have to cover it as per school policy."

William quickly looks around and mutters, "Okay… Wasn't expecting that one."

"Just say it's a cosplay thing until you can work something out," the old man tells them. "I know you're good for it and people are likely to believe it. I understand you weren't fully prepared for any regulations and I'm not that draconian about things."

Reina nods in compliance. "Thank you very much."

"Well, you had training to do. Please be careful with that though. Both for the sword's sake and everyone else's," William tells his daughter. "And as long as I'm here, we may as well discuss the annual employment drive program."

"Ah yes. That is coming up again. Let's go to my office where it's more comfortable." Konoemon stands up as several joints pop. He mutters to himself, "Sat there too long."

Masumi finally shows up again. "Sorry I'm late sir."

"It's fine. We both know how much of a handful he can be. We're going to be discussing the annual recruitment thing, you wanna join us?"

"Sure. Otherwise I'd just be taking a nap."

"Okay. I'll see you later Reina. Come on OC."

OC #45 stands there as Reina begins to walk off. He looks back at her then at William. "What do you think Masumi-san?"

"I don't think it should be an issue. When it comes to meeting people, he's like a kid in a candy store."

William adds, "But be back here in one hour, understand?"

"Of course. I have an internal clock."

"Okay. And do not, I repeat, _do not_ get into any fights or trouble."

"I will not."

"Good."

* * *

Hisao ends up sitting back at the table where Chao and Satomi are.

"Welcome back. So are we feeling a little more grown up now?"

Hisao simply levels a glare at her. "I'm not back for your benefit. I happened to see who that helicopter belongs to, and it's not yet time for their annual meeting. Something is happening and I'm curious. It obviously has something to do with Reina, so I'm going to hang around a bit longer. And since you've bought lunch, I might as well get a free one."

"They say the path to a man's heart is through his stomach. Maybe you'll feel better after we eat."

Corentin comes wobbling up to the table, breathing heavy. "Je suis fatigue et j'ai faim." He flops onto his seat and rests his head on the table.

"Hey, Corentin-san. You just made it back in time."

In response, Corentin raises a single fist in the air, without raising his head off the table. "Hooray…"

At that moment, Chachamaru comes by with all of their orders, and sets each one down in front of the person who ordered it, with Hisao getting a plate of meat buns.

"Meat buns? How… ordinary."

"Just eat one and change your tune." Chao's voice is practically harmonic.

"Whatever." Hisao bites into one and chews slowly. Chao waits with gentle anticipation for his face to reflect something. "That's really good. It tastes like pizza."

"I think all you needed was a good meal. Probably better than MRE's and the other stuff you're used to. After we're done here, we'll go do some other stuff. How does that sound?"

"Fine by me."

"The sound of that is wonderful," Corentin says. "May I also add the food is an excellent thing as well. I feel rechargé!"

"Good thing. When we're done here, we have got a few more things to handle."

* * *

Kaede, Reina, and OC #45 show up at the training area, passing by several plastered up posters on the inside of an alleyway, each one with the same thing. The corner of one flutters free. That same one has some graffiti on it.

"Hey, you're back!" Asuna remarks, breaking the routine she and Setsuna are in. The size of the sword Reina is carrying around takes a moment to get to her. "Is that what I think it is?"

"Y- Yes. Th- This is my mo… ther's sword."

Konoka states the obvious. "Nice sword, Cloud."

"C- Cloud? What?" Reina asks.

"Lemme see it," Asuna says, reaching for it.

Reina pulls back quickly, almost ready to run away. "Ah! Uh… N- No. You see… I- I think I am th- the only one who c- can use it. It is r- r- really heavy o- o- otherwise."

OC #45 backs this up. "It was around 100 lbs (~45.36 kg) when I held it. Plus analysis indicates the core is filled with mercury, adjusting the center of gravity depending on how it is swung."

"So who are you big fella?" Makie asks, wrapping up a particular dance she was working on.

"My name is Operation Carlsbad. I am the 45th version. You may call me OC if you wish. It is a great pleasure to make your acquaintance. May I ask your name?"

"Makie Sasaki."

The lights around his camera blink happily. "It is my greatest joy to meet new people and add them to my memory. You are very graceful."

"Nice to meet you too." Makie offers him a large friendly smile.

"The only person I have yet to meet here is her." OC points to Ku Fei.

Asuna calls Ku and Negi's attention. Both student and master stop and bow to each other then join the others. Ku Fei looks at the massive blue robot in the group. OC #45 and Ku Fei exchange greetings, ending with OC's lights blinking happily again. "It is very nice to have met you all."

"So Reina-san," Negi asks, "is that your mother's?"

"Y- Yes."

"We should quit wasting time and see what that puppy can do," Asuna adds, eager to see Reina in action.

Setsuna adds, "With that sword and your shield, you could become quite the wall on the battlefield."

"S- S- Sounds slow," comments Reina.

"Well, there's only one way to find out now, isn't there?" Setsuna steps out to where she and Asuna were a little bit ago and draws her sword again. "Unfortunately, with Makie-san and Ku Fei-san within sight, we'll have to keep the shield use for later."

"Sh- Shouldn't I… g- get some b- basic tips fi- first?" Suddenly, she starts thinking the small bit of bravery she felt in calling her father was a big mistake. There's no way she could stand a swordfight with a girl.

"What do you think training is? It's a series of basic tips. You should be used to using a sword, right?"

"But i- it's usually m- m- mounted on the back of my arm. Thi… s is com- completely different."

"We aren't actually trying to kill each other, if that's worrying you."

"Eh…" stammers the timid girl. Actually, what is worrying her is the seeming payback she's getting for being courageous earlier.

"Go on already." Asuna gives her a friendly push towards the waiting Setsuna. Asuna quickly steps over to Makie, OC #45, and Ku Fei. "Hey you guys I'd like to talk to you about something…"

Reina starts hoping maybe Setsuna will get a sudden, rapid, and crippling attack of carpel tunnel. She slowly reaches into her pocket, to give the carpel tunnel gods more time to work their mojo. When they decide to turn down Reina's prayers, she bites the bullet and draws her card.

"A- Adeat."

Once the light from the activation dies down, she is holding her shield, but it's different from before, resembling a white bird's wing. The detailing is immaculate, with each feather being almost like the real thing. It is still as big as it was when she first used it, it just looks different.

"You seem to have a malleable pactio."

Konoka continues ribbing Reina. "If you keep this up, we'll have to call you 'One-Winged Reina' and I don't think Square will like that. Try to avoid using Omnislash!"

Reina is confused. "W- What does th- that mean?"

"Asuna-san!" Setsuna calls, "You can train with us at the same time."

"Huh? Oh! Sorry you three, I suddenly forgot what I was talking about," she lies. The red head apologizes then nods and joins the other two, sword ready to go.

Setsuna is the first to move, swinging in to strike Reina. The glint of metal harkens to Reina, like someone calling to her from a great distance. Without attempting a block, she stumbles backwards and drops her sword and shield, her sword landing with a heavy thud. She can hear them again, the klaxons and gunfire from the bathing incident with Chizuru. A sickly smell works its way into her nostrils.

Pulling back, Setsuna asks, "Are you okay?"

Negi steps up to her as well. "Is something wrong?"

"Eh…" Reina shakes her head, then about gags from whatever it is she's thinks she smells. "N- No. I'm… I'm go- good." She picks her sword and shield up, hoping her mind's done messing with her. Giving it a test swing, she can feel the balance of the sword change from side to tip.

* * *

As their training wears on, Makie finishes first. She sits and watches Negi practice, while listening to the sound of sword strikes and drinking a sports drink she brought with her. It's gotten warm, but even with that, it's refreshing.

She watches as Ku Fei and Negi practically mirror each other's movements. It's not long before she loses herself in watching Negi. When OC#45 joins her shortly afterwards she snaps out of her daydream.

"Oh, hello."

"Hello. You seem to be staring at Negi a lot," he observes. "Does he interest you?"

The gymnast turns and incredible shade of red. "What?! No! No… No. Maybe just a little."

"As I estimated."

"What about you? Anyone interest you?" Makie turns the tables.

"I like meeting people. I'm trying to grasp this feeling I've heard about called love. I don't know if I've got it right though. I often, with a probability factor of 95.985 percent, come to the conclusion that I am a machine and therefore do not apply. The other 4.015 percent of the time, I decide it is best if I do not dedicate process cycles to it."

"Aww…"

OC stands up. "I have to go now. It was nice meeting you and the others. Perhaps I will come back some day to meet even more people."

"That'd be fun. See you later."

OC bids farewell to the others before walking back.

* * *

After lunch, Hisao and Corentin find themselves in possession of a fair number of bags. Or rather, they are simply carrying them. Seems the "other stuff" she had planned is turning them into pack mules. Hisao groans as Chao hands him a few more bags.

"Are we about done yet?" he groans.

"Well, you did want something to do. We're killing two birds with one stone here. You're getting to go around Mahora like I want and you're fulfilling your order like you want. We're both happy. Besides, we needed supplies."

Hisao is going to open his mouth again when he thinks better of himself and decides to keep it closed. He didn't say, _"There's a difference between supplies and useless junk." _But he did think it.

The meat buns were good, and the girl who cooked them was quite affable, which when he thinks about it is because she is a reserved person. Hisao groans as he realizes he's thinking about a girl again. He hopes he is not turning into one of those idiot romantic types.

"M- Mon Hisao…" Corentin says from behind his load. "I think perhaps we are… What is the word?"

"Conned? …Tools?"

"The first one. I cannot see how we would be like the hammer."

"I agree about the con. But still, we are doing something at least."

"True."

After all the shopping is done, they make their way back to the lab. Hisao and Corentin find the nearest table and pile the bags on top of it.

"Thank you guys, we never would have been able to bring that all back here by ourselves," Chao tells them. "We usually get so wrapped up here that we forget to get basic supplies."

Satomi adds, "I can't tell you how often I end up sleeping in the lab here."

Hisao and Corentin look at each other then back at both of the girls. Corentin asks, "You are being serious?"

Satomi replies with a simple, "Yes."

"It's your own fault." Hisao is not going to be moved so easily. "You should have a clock or an alarm. It's not that hard to be notified of the passing time."

Chao smiles at him. "Well thanks to you we don't have to worry about it for a while again. So we've done everything we needed you to. Is there anything you'd like to do?" Hisao is about to say something when he gets cut off. "Besides that."

Hisao decides to simply walk away.

"I would like to guess that I'll say thank you for the food." Corentin waves hastily as he follows along behind Hisao.

After they are beyond earshot, Chao remarks, "Maybe I did push his buttons too much."

* * *

The girls' and Negi's training session comes to a close and a few decide to call it a day. They go their separate ways for the evening.

As Reina leaves, she's stopped by Asuna. "Listen Reina-san, there's something I wanted to ask you about."

A dread sense runs down Reina's spine as every nerve in her body tells her to hide. "W- W- Wha… t?"

"I wanted to ask you about… your… How to put this? Setsuna-san made mention of you being afraid of something. Maybe you'd like to talk about it?"

"_Damn it!_" Reina shouts in her head.

"I… I… Got to go."

As she begins to walk away, Asuna puts her hand on Reina's shoulder. This causes a knee jerk reaction in Reina, making her drop her sword as she tries to both turn around and back away at the same time. Her sword lands with a thick noise. Reina ends up falling on her butt, trying to back away.

"I'm sorry, Reina-san. I didn't mean to startle you. But, are you perhaps… afraid of girls?" Asuna asks, after adding two and two.

The feeling that she's been found out oozes into every corner of her brain, seeping across every neural pathway. She quickly tries to calculate escape routes, and various plans, but those thoughts are swiftly overwritten by panic. She can't see a way out of this… except…

She pulls out her phone and presses the button.

"Woah! I didn't mean to sound hostile or anything. I just put some things together based off a couple things I heard. You didn't need to sick your robot on me!"

Reina can only cower. She had thought she was making progress, but it seems she hasn't made a lick of it. How pathetic she truly is.

"Oh jeez… Come on. I really didn't mean to scare you like that. I won't say anything if that makes you feel better."

It's not much longer before the Ivory Knight lands right near them. Reina quickly dismisses her pactio, grabs her sword, and makes a run for the lowering winch.

"I'm faster than you, you know." It doesn't take anything for Asuna to catch up and grab the cord too.

The two girls scuffle inside the Knight, Reina trying to get away and Asuna trying to prevent that. Asuna gets some leverage on Reina and wrangles her to the floor. Asuna sits on her abdomen and pins her wrists to the floor.

"Will you just listen to me?"

"P- P- Please…"

"I'll let you up when you've heard me out."

Reina stops struggling but keeps her eyes closed and faces away from Asuna.

"Okay now. I did just piece things together and I really don't mean you any harm. I won't say anything to anyone if you don't want me to either. But being like this isn't going to help you any. At this point, I can't figure out why you'd willingly come to an all girls school if you're afraid of girls."

"I… I'm n- not afraid o- o- o- of girls… I- I'm a- a- afraid of… th- th- the color r- red!"

"Not likely. Negi's hair is red. I'm sorta orange."

"Okay… S- So that isn't tr- true. I… I w- wan- want to get o- over it," Reina says meekly. "P- Plus… When I m… et Negi at the conv- vention before I came here…" She cuts herself off before she says something that may make things worse. Things are bad enough that the connections behind her ears are starting to itch.

Asuna releases her death grip on Reina's wrists. "Ah. So a chance meeting with Negi-kun led to this? Kid's a playboy I swear. I'm sure that Negi and the rest of us will be willing to help you out in any way. I like all my classmates and I don't want to see any of them in distress."

"W- What a… bout Ayaka?"

"Well, okay. You got me there, but I certainly wouldn't want to see her in any kind of real trouble. I'm not heartless. Would you like me to tell someone else and see if we can help you?"

Reina can't help but blush. "Ne- Negi already kn- nows."

"When'd he find out?"

"M- My first day h- here."

"That kid works fast."

"It's… It's n- not that. I j- just feel mo- more com- comfortable a- around men. I… I kn- kn- know that s- sounds wro… ng, but I get them m- m- more than I do women."

Asuna sighs and gets off of her captive. "To think of the boyfriends you could have if you were a bit more feminine."

Reina protests, "I… I'm not l- like that."

Asuna gives a sly smile. "Negi says the same thing, you know."

Reina looks down and away, crossing her one arm in front of herself. The timid girl, rather than brave a fall, comes up with an idea. "C- Can I at l… least get to m- m… y chair?"

"Uh… Yeah. Okay."

Reina nervously works her way over to her chair and hooks herself in. "Okay, I'm good. I'm not scared inside the Ivory Knight here."

"That's weird. Well, one thing before I go. Negi's got a meeting with Evangeline-san tonight at midnight. If he can hit Chachamaru-san even once, she'll allow him to take magic training as well as martial arts training."

"Wasn't she already training him?"

"Yeah, but Evangeline can be… finicky from my experience."

"Well, I'll try and show up. I think sometimes the cybernetics in my head put a drain on me though. I like to sleep. But I'll definitely try my best to show up." A thumbs up flashes over the Ivory's screen.

"Before I go, are sure you don't want me saying anything to Setsuna-san at least? I mean, she kind of already knows."

"It's really embarrassing though. How many other girls are afraid of girls? It's like a cat that's allergic to cat hair, pathetic."

"Hey, don't beat up on yourself. I'll admit it's strange, and I don't get how it's possible, but it's nothing to be ashamed of. Tell you what, I'll inform Setsuna, and we, along with Negi, will try to help you get over it."

A sigh works its way out of the speaker system in the cabin. "I'm beginning to think I might be beyond help honestly. How long have I been here now?"

Asuna walks over to the open hatch door. "Well, I've got to go. Remember, midnight if you can make it."

"I'll certainly try."

"Talk to you then. Later."

"Goodbye." Reina offers her hand for a way down which Asuna steps out on to.

Asuna hops down to the ground when she's within range. A small crowd had gathered around on the machine, two members of which are Negi and Makie. As Asuna walks over to them, Reina walks over to part of the crowd, which separate, allowing her to continue down the road. When she has a clear shot, Reina starts running and takes off.

As Asuna stands there with Negi and Makie, she whiffs the air. Her nose leads her over to Negi. Like everyone stupidly does when they smell something bad, she smells him again.

"You smell awful. Let's go get you cleaned."

"But…!"

Makie follows along as Asuna drags him off.

* * *

Midnight finds Chachazero complaining about where she gets placed. Evangeline picks her up by the wing and moves her over to a small design outcropping.

Chachamaru offers numbers. "Master, I calculate that Negi-sensei has less than a three percent chance of making contact with me. Wouldn't it be wrong to cancel his training by ending it like this?"

"I'm not looking for an apprentice," Eva explains. "He happened to get me a bad time, now I'm looking to end it. He hits you once, then he isn't wasting his time and I'll continue on as I have been… And don't go easy on him. I'll be able to tell if you do."

"Yes, as you command."

Eva pulls out a pocket watch and checks the time. "He's going to be late. We may be able to end this without a fight."

"Evangeline-san!" Negi's voice rings out in the night air.

She sighs. "Well I guess it won't be that easy."

"I'm here for the apprenticeship test!"

"Keep your voice down, even the dead are still asleep at this hour," she tells him. "Anyway, let's hurry up and get this started."

"You hit Chachamaru even once with that kung-fu, you pass and the fight ends. The match will continue until you are dead and no longer able to attack. Got it?"

"Are those the only stipulations?" asks Negi.

"Yeah, good enough really. Also, do something about your damn groupies. They're laughing and it's pissing me off." She points to the small gathering of girls that have gathered near Negi.

"Heh heh heh… Sorry. I guess they followed me."

Most of them head up to another level, leaving Makie, Asuna, and Ku Fei.

Makie asks, 'This seems dangerous Negi-kun, are you sure you're going to be safe?"

"Don't worry Makie-san. I've been put through a lot of training with Ku Fei-san. I'm going to go at it with my maximum."

Asuna and Chamo both show concern as well, Negi quickly reassuring them that he will be totally safe. He walks over to Chachamaru and bows with his fists out in front of him.

"I shall be your opponent."

Evangeline declares, "The Wheel of Fate is Turning… Rebel One… Action!"

Chachamaru begins her rush assault, asking for Negi's forgiveness as she moves in. Negi draws a wand and activates a contract on himself. Both parties quickly begin trading blows. Both sides are able to deflect attacks and block the other rather easily. The teacher spins around one of Chachamaru's punches and turns it into a technique, which Chachamaru nullifies with a simple block.

The crowd reacts with shock at how effortless Chachamaru reacts and how fast Negi is to attack. The two fighters quickly turn it into a flurry of blows. The robot girl ends the storm with a powerful kick. He reels back, making a feint. He grabs Chachamaru's arm as it goes by his head and throws and elbow in her direction. She jumps off a nearby wall, putting herself above him as his elbow ends where she had been standing.

Chachamaru turns her momentum into a toss, causing Negi to go spinning and bouncing across the plaza ground. The crowd of girls watches on in sudden silence as the child comes to a skidding stop.

"Hmph… Looks like that is all he has got," Evangeline comments.

"You certainly are in a bad temper tonight," Chachazero comments.

The little vampire heckles from above. "Too bad, so sad… Now pack it in and go wash yourself up."

Makie and Asuna begin running down to him when he twitches. With a few pops and cracks, Negi picks himself up. "I'm not dead yet."

"Seriously… You should be in bed by now, brat. The match is over."

"The condition you set forth was, and I quote, 'Until I die.' So there's no real set time limit, correct?"

"You're not that stupid, are you?!" Evangeline exclaims.

Negi bobs his head side to side, thinking over his reply. "Perhaps I am. But I intend to land a hit on Chachamaru-san one way or another. Let's continue, Chachamaru-san."

"Actually, no matter what you think, _you_ have until school starts on Monday," Evangeline corrects him.

He rushes in to attack again, his speed noticeably slower than before. His contract ended while he was lying on the ground. Chachamaru easily avoids and elbows him in the back of the neck. Negi once again picks himself up off the ground.

"Please be serious about fighting me. There's no point if you take it easy on me."

Chachamaru offers a small protest, but Negi cuts her off with an attack. "I understand…" She decks him hard, knocking him off his feet.

They keep fighting for over an hour. It's getting to the point where even Evangeline is getting embarrassed about it.

She politely argues, "I think that you've gone far enough. I get that you're motivated. Just quit, okay?"

The beating continues as Chachamaru knocks him down again.

As Asuna heads down to stop the fight, Makie stops her. "You can't do this Asuna!"

"Come on, look at him…" Asuna gestures towards the boy.

"He's doing everything he can. Even if he's hurt bad, he's worked incredibly hard to get here. If you stopped him now, you'll ruin everything!"

"I think there's a limit though. He's just being a bull-headed kid who doesn't know any better," Asuna argues.

"No! He's an adult!"

"What happened in the showers was a fluke… And you were kind of grinding up against him."

"That's not what I'm getting at. No child could be so stubborn. I don't know how to say it, but I think he's prepared, that he has a plan of some sort. He's got a plan to achieve his goal and he's going to do everything he can to achieve it! You simply can't stop him now!"

Chachamaru pauses a moment to look at Makie giving her speech. Evangeline calls out, "Chachamaru, pay attention!"

In that moment, like a lone bell ringing out from an abandoned church, a metallic clang sounds out. Negi's fist makes contact with her left cheek, surprising her.

"G… Gotcha." With that, Negi falls to the ground triumphant.

A small chorus of cheers comes from Negi's fan group. He doesn't hear it.

When he awakens, when the sun is just starting to rise, he can hear Evangeline's message clearly. "Congratulations boy. I've lost. You can continue to come to my cottage for training. Oh, and you should continue your kung-fu training. Everyone needs some physical skills, and its logical style suits you." With that, she takes her leave with Chachazero riding on Chachamaru's head.

"Thank you… Evangeline-san." Negi finds himself surrounded by the many girls who came to watch him fight.

"Well done, Negi-kun," Makie compliments.

"Thank you. I didn't keep you up too long did I? Because I want you to do your best today too, Makie-san."

"I'm good. You can leave it to me Negi-kun! I'll dominate the try-outs today!"

**Negima: Femella Intra Machina Chapter 11: End**

**The End of the Chapter Stuff: **Yeah, I said I'd be on a regular schedule last chapter, but life doesn't always roll the way you want it.

Someone's playing a long game and you can see it if you look deep enough.

This chapter is powered by "Rave On" by Masafumi Takada from the Killer7 soundtrack, "Around the World/Better Harder Faster Stronger" by Daft Punk, and "Fall" by Kota Hoshino from the Armored Core 4 soundtrack.

**Thanks this Chapter:** Eternal-Longing for proofreading. If there's anyone I missed, I apologize.

**Thanks for reading, and for reviewing if you do!**


	12. Wake the Dragon

**Authors Notes:** Yeah… It's been a long time. Some things happened that I don't feel like talking about, needless to say, they've left me a broken person. Whatever, this here isn't for me to dwell on that and you aren't my therapy. And to certain people, I'm not going to talk about it. Anyway, I apologize for the extended delay and hope this still lives up to the quality of the previous chapters. If not, I'm probably very rusty. If you recognize the reference during the fight scene, you rule.

**Negima: Femella Intra Machina**

**Written by Dark Dragon Dave**

**Chapter 12: Wake the Dragon**

Ayaka sits at the table in the room she shares with Natsumi and Chizuru. She looms over a yellow note pad with a pencil in her hand. She's written names on the pad, with Negi's being at the center, surrounded by a few hearts, with arrows leading to other people's names.

Little graphite spots are left behind as she taps the pencil up and down. She is trying to figure out what has been happening under her nose for a while now. Under each name are several bits of info, some of it is about what _she_ knows about the relationship between the parties. There's a puzzle here, but she feels she doesn't have all the pieces.

Under Asuna's name is a lot of graphite rage. Through process of elimination, she decides she is not going to corner Asuna about what's happening. That will just lead to frustrations she doesn't need. She needs to figure out who the weak spot is.

Kaede? No. She may be a "Baka Ranger," but she not as dumb as she seems and her physical skills aren't anything to laugh at.

Setsuna? Perhaps, if she can even be found. She's very mysterious.

Konoka? Maybe. She's dependable and smart. Slightly airheaded. She may very well blurt it out.

Reina? She'd be a great choice if it wasn't for the giant robot she's got. Maybe if she can get her cornered in a building.

Yue? Maybe, but getting her alone might be an issue.

Nodoka? She'd be perfect, but again, getting her alone would be difficult.

Kazumi? No. Probably got something she could blackmail her with.

Haruna? No. She's like Yue and Nodoka but not as likely to crack.

Ku Fei? Not likely. Ku's kung-fu is better than her kung-fu. Maybe if she can hire Chuck Norris.

Ayaka groans in frustration. There's no one in the group she can easily manipulate… Then an idea hits. Nothing like going straight to the source, right? She pulls a picture of Negi she keeps with her at all times, just in case of an emergency. Her heart picks up its pace as she stares longingly into the small teacher's eyes… The picture's eyes anyway.

"Ayaka, we're going to be late," says Natsumi, drawing the blonde back to reality. "Quit staring at that picture of Negi-sensei."

Ayaka crumples the list up and puts it in the kitchen trash can before heading out with her roommates. This mystery isn't going to be buried for long.

* * *

A chill runs down Negi's spine, causing him to shiver. He quickly puts on his suit jacket to counteract the sudden temperature drop. With that done he meets Asuna and Konoka at the door and heads out with the two of them.

* * *

The day ticks away to the end of school with nothing much happening, a typical day down the drain. After class, some of the girls head to their clubs, while a few hang around to chat before leaving.

Negi is supposed to be heading to Evangeline's place, along with his pactio partners, for a stress test today. He steps out of the school building only to find Ayaka waiting for him.

"Oh, Iincho-san… Hello."

"Hello Negi-sensei, I was wondering if I could talk to you."

"Of course. Is there something you didn't understand about today's lesson?" Negi asks the obvious question.

Ayaka shakes her head. "No. It's not about that at all. You're a good teacher when it comes to that. It's not your fault if some students are… thicker than others."

Negi can't resist a slight smile at that. "So what did you need?"

"I was just hoping I could get some time to talk with you is all."

Okay… This was bordering on strange. "Oh, okay."

"Listen Negi-sensei, I was there in Kyoto. And I've come to realize that there's something going on under my nose. I saw you and the others… plus there were the stone statues that looked like people. Something was going on there and I've come to notice that you, Asuna, Konoka, Setsuna, Reina, and Kaede seem to be at the center of things."

Oops… "Er… Well… Cinema Town went crazy. You know how actors are."

"But that doesn't explain those statues in Konoka's home," Ayaka points out.

"Probably some sculptures. It is a large castle and all."

"Negi-sensei, I swear I saw someone turn to stone that night. If something is happening, I'd like to know about it."

"I don't know anything about that," he lies.

Her blonde hair shakes along with her head. "Negi-sensei, I respect you too much to have you lie to me. Please, I don't know the truth about what is going on but I can tell that there is something special happening. Please don't treat me like a fool."

It was right that he had been doing just that, treating her like a fool when she clearly isn't. Grades alone can speak volumes, but… Asuna is a bright girl; she just needs to apply herself.

"Ayaka-san…"

"If you don't want to tell me, that's fine. Just don't lie to me."

Negi feels a bit of guilt pressing down on him. "Ayaka-san… I… I wish I could tell you."

"Tell me what? If there is anything I can do to help please let me know."

"It's nothing really. You don't need to worry." Negi forces a smile on his face. While he doesn't like lying, her safety is of greater concern than a silly lie.

"Well, okay. But please do not hesitate to tell me anything."

"Of course," the boy says as he nods. "Unfortunately, I've got somewhere I need to be."

"Yes. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to delay you."

They bid small goodbyes and part each other's company. However, Ayaka soon turns right around and begins tailing her favorite teacher.

* * *

It takes a bit before they reach the woods, with Negi taking the usual trail to Evangeline's house, his blonde tail darting between trees in case he should turn around for any reason. She brushes some small branches out of her face as she makes her way through some trees.

As she continues along, she runs into a dark haired boy with freezing blue eyes. His gaze sends a chill up her spine. Her mouth opens up to say something but it gets silenced at the last moment when he interrupts her.

"Who are you?" he asks at last. The pressure of his stare is measurable. "Don't you know the trail is over there?"

Thinking quickly, Ayaka lies. "Well I have some... business to attend to. And it's such a long distance to the nearest restroom." People do that in the woods, right? Hopefully it'll gross him out.

Hisao's face doesn't change expression. "Be careful then. There are some lacquer trees there and they are running sap. In case you don't know, they are very toxic."

Her opinion of him changes slightly. "Oh, well thank you. My name's Ayaka Yukihiro."

"Hisao Ishikawa." He remembers her from that group of girls around the boy that just walked past. "Don't go too deep into the woods. Someone like you is ill equipped to go very far."

"Uh… I just planned on…"

"Yes," Hisao interrupts, his inflection cold and disinterested. Without any more words, the icy boy begins walking away.

When he's out of view, she hastens her pace towards where Negi was heading, not wanting to lose track of him.

* * *

A knock on the door causes Chisame to scoff, sighing at having to get up and answer the door. Her mouse rattles as she drops it heavily on the pad. Why can't everyone just get lost? When she gets to the door she opens it ever so slightly.

"Yeah?" she asks.

"Is Reina-san there?" asks Asuna from the other side of the door. She has Setsuna in tow.

Thankfully she isn't here. "No. She got some letter this morning that she acted like an idiot over and headed out. I think it was about special permission for flying around in that giant tin can of hers."

"Ah. That's right. She did get in trouble for that. If you see her sometime today, let her know we're in our usual spot. Well, we'll let you get back to your day then," Asuna says and both her and Setsuna turn to leave.

With that annoyance out of the way, Chisame decides to not waste any more time and begins getting things set up for what will hopefully be a very fruitful photo shoot.

* * *

The Chao Bao Zi sits out in the World Tree Plaza, surrounded by hungry patrons. Chao and Satsuki are there, of course, but Corentin is also helping Chachamaru wait tables. Hisao told them earlier that wasn't really interesting to him so he was going to go check on the mechs.

When he comes back half an hour later, the place is a little less busy. There are still customers sitting around talking at the end of their lunch, before heading back to where they came from.

Corentin makes his way over to where Hisao is sitting. He heaves down, sitting in the seat next to Hisao. He flops down, taking a moment of rest where he can get it.

"Mon Hisao, how—"

"They were fine. I did run into a blonde girl, Ayaka Yukihiro I think her name was. She was tailing that boy teacher. It's none of my business but I told her that there were some lacquer trees running sap. I didn't need to, but she doesn't need to know that."

"Good to see you back," Chao tells Hisao as she sits down with the others. "No doubt you've seen her flying around today."

"I have. Thankfully, when she's like that she tends to just fly around for the enjoyment."

"I suppose you'd like to get out there too?" his employer asks.

"I'm perfectly fine, if just a bit bored."

"We could use some help cleaning up. The few customers left are just hang-abouts, want to help us?"

Hisao sighs, "Might as well, haven't got anything else to do."

* * *

Hisao and Satsuki stand beside each other to do the dishes, Satsuki cleans, Hisao dries. When they get a big enough stack of them, Hisao picks them up and asks where Satsuki where they go. She points up to a cabinet. Hisao lifts them up and into the one she pointed at and gets back to drying.

"I haven't done this in a while," Hisao comments. "It used to be me and my sister would always help our father out at home."

"(Oh?)"

"Yeah. But when I left, I ended up with a group that's basically like a PMC. So I haven't needed to clean my plate for a while."

"(You do have an aura of melancholy around you. You're perfectly welcome to come back. I'll always cook you something really good, and I'll even let you clean your own plate.)" She smiles a gentle smile at him.

"I'll think about it. Your food certainly is leagues above anything I usually eat."

"(It's nice to have good food now and again, isn't it?)"

Hisao dries what he realizes is the last plate and nods. "Yes it is." His phone beeps and he checks the message. "It looks like you'll have to excuse me, there's something I need to do. Have a nice rest of the day."

"(You too.)"

* * *

"Where's what's-her-face?" Evangeline asks, obvious irritation in her voice. She looks at the group of four girls. Asuna, Konoka, Setsuna, and Kaede.

With her hand behind her head, Asuna answers. "Well… We tried to get her but she got special permission to go flying around so she took it. At least that's what Chisame-san told us."

"Well this isn't going to be a proper test then, is it?"

"Er…" Asuna turns to the others. "Anyone got her phone number? She called me once and I forgot to save her number." She turns slightly red out of embarrassment.

"I do!" Konoka exclaims and looks through her contact list. "Oh wait… No I don't."

"Hey wait! Negi, use that telepathy thing you used earlier."

"But I do have her phone number. And I think calls placed to her while she's in the Ivory go directly to her."

"Well call her up then."

Negi pulls out his phone and calls Reina. "Hello Reina-san… Er… Well, we need you here for a test Evenageline-san wishes to run… Yeah. Out in the woods… Okay. I can leave my phone on for a bit yet… Oh? That was fast… Right. Okay!" Negi closes his phone. "Okay," he says to everyone, "She'll be here in a bit."

"So she's coming here in that tin can of hers? Just what I need, a giant, mechanical, pain in my ass," laments Eva.

"She's not all that bad, Evangeline-san. Besides, don't you think giant robots are cool?" Konoka asks.

"Not really. Regardless, she's one of your partners, so she has to be here."

Not much longer and Reina is flying overhead, landing with a wind strong enough to rustle the leaves in the trees. She sees that there are quite the number of girls around and swiftly elects to stay in her mech for the time being, kneeling down to get closer.

"How long is this going to take?" she asks.

Not wanting to babysit something so overtly large, Evangeline asks her to get out of the Ivory Knight. "Get out here. You're a gamebreaker otherwise."

"I'm quite fine where I am. Thanks."

"Listen, if you're going to be his partner like the rest, then you can't always rely on the iron giant there," Eva tells her harshly. Asuna and Negi understand her hesitation. "Besides, the fresh air will do you good, and we can't really do this properly without everyone present and accounted for."

"I'm here, what more do you need?"

"Until you get out of there, how can we test Negi's full contract ability?"

"His what now?" Reina asks.

Evangeline sighs. This is going to be a long, unnecessary road. "When you activate the card, or he activates it on you, it draws some magic from his reserve."

"Oh! Well, I can use the pacti-thing when I'm in the Ivory Knight here," Reina tells her.

The small vampire raises an eyebrow. "Really…? Color me intrigued."

"Adeat!" With that, a tangible force field surrounds the Ivory Knight, which she quickly dispels.

"And what do you think would happen if he activated the contract while you were still in that metal monstrosity? Your fuses would burn and you'd probably shut down."

With a sense of pride, Reina remarks, "Not likely. The Ivory Knight is rather resilient."

"Do you want to test that thought?"

Negi intervenes. "Listen, Reina-san, just come down. I don't want this escalating into a fight. Can you come down now?"

"But…" hesitates Reina.

"I know. Do it as a favor, okay?"

"We don't have all day!" Evangeline fires off.

The mech takes a more upright stance and the front hatch opens up. After a few moments the lights in the eyes shut off. Shakily, Reina grabs the winch and lowers down. She has her mother's sword with her. She goes and stands over near the others with a look of desperation and slight panic on her face.

"Fine, now that the peanut gallery has assembled, we can begin. Firstly, Setsuna, you'll have to lower your ki, as magic and ki are very conflicting without the proper training."

"Okay, Evangeline-san," Setsuna nods.

Negi holds up the cards for all of his partners. "Right, well, here goes… I invoke the contract for 180 seconds! Minestra Negi… Konoka Konoe, Setsuna Sakurazaki, Asuna Kagurazaki, Reina Whitehall, Kaede Nagase."

Ku Fei watches from the sidelines. She found out about Negi's secret when he thanked her and Mana for their help back in Kyoto. All they really did was help take care of a few scrubs. She quickly marvels at the auras shining from the small group of partners.

"It feels like someone tickling me," Konoka remarks.

"Yeah, it does, doesn't it?" Kaede says.

Asuna looks at Setsuna. "This something you just never get used to."

"It's not all that bad. Right Reina-san?"

Reina has her right eye closed and is gritting her teeth lightly. Her head hurts a bit too much to be afraid of the fact Setsuna is a girl. "Feels like I got a splitting headache. My dad did say I couldn't use magic, maybe I'm not meant to use someone else's magic too. It's like it is conflicting with the machine parts of my brain." She props herself up against her sword.

"Are you okay Reina-san?" Negi asks.

"Good enough. Don't worry about me." She waves them off.

"Well then… Expand the anti-material shield onto everyone at maximum power. After that, do the same with the anti-magic shield."

"Right."

"After holding that for three minutes, fire 199 arrows to the north. I've expanded a barrier so there shouldn't be anything to worry about."

"_Three minutes?_" Reina thinks to herself. "_Hope I can last that long…_"

The time dwindles down to the last remaining moments before Negi is to fire the arrows into the sky. Before he can, something comes out of the woods, running right for them through a gap in the wall.

"I knew something was up!" A flash of long blonde hair announces Ayaka's arrival. Just at that moment, before he can grasp what has happened, he fires off his 199 light arrows. Her eyes light up, as well as those of the other girls watching the fireworks.

Evangeline simply places her hand to her head and sighs.

After the light show is over, Negi is unable to cope with the sudden shock of such a deep mana use, he drops.

"What… was… that?" Ayaka asks.

"Damn it. Not another one, especially her." Asuna knows this will only lead to trouble. She walks over to Ayaka. "H-H-Hey…! It's just a bunch of fireworks. We were having a picnic."

"I don't want to hear it Asuna. That wasn't fireworks, it was something else."

Evangeline groans. "Okay, it was magic! There, the stupid waltz of obfuscation is over."

Asuna tries to tell Evangeline about what will—

"What? Screw it, I want to go home at some point and I'm not bound by the Mageocracy's idiotic rule. They know better than to mess with me anyway. As far as the boy is concerned… He may be the inheritor of such tremendous magic power, but it might as well have gone to waste. Fainting at something as minor as that is pathetic."

Chamo speaks up as Konoka, Setsuna, and Asuna tend to the exhausted boy. "Woah hey… Aren't you being a little too harsh him? I mean, he's only ten years old, after all. He's used up more magic than he ever has before. The Kyoto trip pales in comparison."

Evangeline glares at him with a quite anger in her eyes. "Silence you miserable excuse for a rodent. Don't think being ordinary mage will get you anywhere with me. And if you disagree with my methods, back in my younger days I developed a taste for rats after living on the streets." Her intent is quite clear to the cute woodland creature.

Chamo hops down off the rock he is sitting on and runs over to Konoka. "It'll be okay. I won't let her eat you. You're too fuzzy. Plus she'd get the world's cutest hairball."

Ayaka is taking a moment to process everything. "So… Magic is real?"

"Yeah. You've seen it for yourself, didn't you?" Konoka says.

"So that would make Negi-sensei some sort of wizard, or witch, or something?"

Konoka smiles. "He's a mage. But you have to keep it super secret okay? Otherwise the powers that be will abduct him and turn him into an ermine."

That idea sends a shock through Ayaka. "There's no way I'd ever let anyone turn Negi into an ermine! But… If they did I'd make sure he was an ermine with an excellent life! It would be hard, but we'd work something out!" The thought of a cute Negi ermine sitting on her shoulders causes her to blush.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Asuna asks. Ayaka seems to ignore her in favor of fawning over Negi.

The blonde puts her hand on Negi's forehead. "Are you okay, Negi-sensei."

Negi comes around to look at her. "Ayaka-san? Did you follow me?"

"I did. I am sorry Negi-sensei. I know I shouldn't have, but I worry a lot about you and only wish you to be safe," she explains.

Everyone just looks at her, knowing better.

"Well if he doesn't start getting is act together, he won't be safe much longer. Asking me to train you then making excuses when you aren't prepared for hell. Make one more complaint and I'll drain you of every last drop of blood. Don't forget that," advises Eva.

"Blood?" Ayaka asks as Negi picks himself up off the ground and says he's counting on Eva.

"You see…" Asuna explains. "Evangeline-san there is a vampire."

Ayaka thinks this over for a moment. "Wait! I won't let anyone harm Negi-sensei!" She places herself between Evangeline and her beloved Negi.

The vampire just looks at her. "Do you even have any earthly idea what is going on here?"

"Ayaka-san," Negi says from behind the blonde wall, "she's a trainer for me. I'm studying magic from her since she's much better than I."

"As long as that's all that is, I'm okay with it. But if I find a single bite mark anywhere on him and I'll be sure that you're put away so long you'll forget what sunlight is like."

"As for you," Evangeline turns to Reina. "I'm not even going to attempt to train you in this as you're simply incapable of using magic. So you can go swing your sword around or something." Her tone is both frustrated and haughty.

Not only does Evangeline freak her out, but Reina thinks she's been called worthless in a roundabout way. "R- R- Right." She takes it as bittersweet blessing. She picks her sword up and heads over to the Ivory Knight, riding the winch cable up and into the cockpit.

When she's inside, she sits down in her seat, leaning forward with her head down.

"You okay Reina-san?" Negi asks loudly.

Reina simply looks up at the hatch door, watching as it closes. "_I'm trying to step into a world I am not compatible with. I'd love to be of more use, but I'm just a sword and robot_," whispers through her head. She stands up and puts her sword back where she had it during transport, duct taped to the wall.

Slightly miffed, she comments to no one in particular, "Stupid vampire." Reina sits in her chair, plugs herself in, and gets strapped in. When she awakens inside the Ivory, she looks down on Evangeline. Without a word, she turns around and walks to a safe distance away to fly off to continue the day as she had planned earlier.

* * *

"It's complete sir!"

That statement brings a smile across William Whitehall's face. "Now maybe this will get the government jerks off my ass for a while. It saddens me that the industry relies on these huge contracts, but needs must I guess." He pulls his phone out of his coat pocket and searches for his daughter's phone number.

He speaks in English, "Hiya."

"Hi dad."

He tries to make this sound good. "I've got some news for you."

"What's up?"

"The Red Dragon is done. So if you want, you can grab a couple of your new friends and bring them around to check out a live fire test."

Reina becomes uncomfortably quiet. "Err... I'll probably just show up alone. Everyone else is out training and since I can't use magic… I'm kind of left out in the dark."

"Oh… Sorry. I didn't think…" Reina can hear something like a slap coming from the other end. "Well, if you can bring someone that's fine, if not, don't worry. They're the ones missing out."

"Okay. I'll see if I can talk to them."

"It'll only be for about 15 minutes, and then you'll be able to head back."

"Okay. I'll be there as soon as I can."

"Alright. Goodbye."

"Bye."

William closes his phone and sighs. "And we thought it'd make her life better… Of course, that is how things naturally work, isn't it, Lore?" He pulls the picture he has of her out of his left shirt pocket. "If only they'd made a book for parents like us."

* * *

Back in the ruins, Ayaka is being brought to speed about magic.

"Okay, and that time in Kyoto, with the statues, you remember that, right?" Asuna asks her.

"Yes I do. That's part of the reason I knew something was up!"

Negi comes in at this point. "Well, that was magic. I never intended for you, or really any of them. But you got wrapped up in something by accident when you grabbed a hold of Reina-san."

"Speaking of that, why didn't she just help out with that thing of hers?"

"Well she tried… But she ended up in parts around the lake by Konoka's place."

Konoka paints her own lovely picture. "Yeah, Iincho-san, she got her limbs torn off by a large demon. And she could feel it happening."

Ayaka shakes her head, somewhat out of pain. "So there are such things as demons too? This is all sounding very dangerous. Negi-sensei, I cannot simply allow you to continue along this path!"

"Please. He's far more capable than you'll ever hope to be," Evangeline chimes in.

The class rep has nothing to counter this. She does however formulate a plan. "Fine, but if anything happens to him, I call foul."

"And then he gets turned into an ermine," Evangeline states, her voice sending a chill up everyone's spine.

"How do you mean?" Ayaka asks, probing deeper into a subject she knows nothing about.

Eva smiles a devious smile. You know, her normal smile. "Oh you pathetic simpleton, there's a council of mages, and they oversee the world of magic at large, and more specifically, magic users like your dear sweet Negi-sensei there. And if someone opens their mouth about the existence of magic, they come in the night and abduct the person in question, erase their brain, and in turn the mage that let it slip gets polymorphed into an ermine.

So if you blab, even word one about magic, you can kiss Negi and any designs of a happy life with him goodbye, because you'll never have another thought that doesn't concern drooling on yourself for the rest of your life."

From Ayaka's throat comes an audible gulp. "Err… Well. Okay then. If being quiet about it would be more beneficial, then silent I shall remain. But let it be known that it's under protest."

"Duly noted and forgotten," Evangeline concludes. "There's much you don't know about magic and a lot you never will."

"If it involves Negi-sensei, I'm willing to help in any degree I can!"

"Oh, well there is something I think you'd love to do that would be very beneficial." Negi's face changes to a look of shock.

"What's that?"

"Oh yeah!" Chamo elates.

Negi sees where this is going and begins silently protesting behind Ayaka. Even the other girls are getting antsy.

"All the girls here have done it. Heck, even that useless tin can Reina has done it twice now, three times in total that I know of. See all you gotta do is…" Negi is making neck chopping motions behind Ayaka. He loops an imaginary rope around his neck and begins lifting himself up over an invisible branch. When Ayaka notices Eva looking at something she turns around and looks at Negi, he nervously quits.

"What is it?"

About that time, like a giant mechanical angel from above, Reina returns. She lands with another heavy thud.

"Speak of the mecha and she will come," mutters the vampire. "Come back for sword training? You don't really need to; just go swing your hunk of metal somewhere. It really is just as useful."

"No, actually I came to invite everyone to a sneak peek of the Red Dragon if you're interested and it won't take up everyone's time and there'll be huge explosions!" She points at Evangeline. "You can even come along."

Evangeline scoffs, "Like I'd want to go and see that. Besides, we're all busy here."

"What the heck is your problem?" Reina asks hotly. "I've done nothing to you!"

"You can't use magic, simple as. Once you can, I might actually recognize you."

It all seems like ancient history to Negi, but his original purpose in going to the convention all those months ago was to observe high technology. What Evangeline just said triggers the memory. Evangeline is a very magical being, whilst Reina is a very technological person. Could there be a disparity between the two, like some unbridgeable schism?

"That's pretty high and mighty talk coming from someone who could be killed by a nailgun full of toothpicks!" Reina fires back in a rare showing of backbone towards a female. Negi knows it's purely because she's in the Knight. If she weren't, Reina would be a wet paper towel right now.

"Listen, the both of you!" Negi says firmly. "Fighting like that isn't really helpful."

"Stay out of it!" comes from both sides. Negi gets an '_I've been told'_ face.

"And what makes you so special besides you being useless outside of that metal monstrosity?"

"The same can be asked about you too."

Evangeline turns away from the giant robot. "I've got the power to back up my mouth."

"As do I." Reina seems to stand up taller. She flares her sword. The heat from it is palpable.

"Woah, woah, woah, woah!" Asuna says and gets in between Eva and Reina… mostly on Eva's side. "Can't we all just calm down?"

"I would but she seems to have it out for me when I've done nothing to her," Reina explains. "And I even tried inviting her along." Her sword dissipates.

"Well, see, she can't leave school grounds thanks to a curse," Asuna explains.

Reina snickers a little bit. "What?"

"Damn it you idiot!" Evangeline complains.

Reina has a taunting tone to her voice. "You're not so scary then, are you?"

"Enough the both of you!" Kaede says, breaking a silence she's held since they gathered. "There's no reason to carry on with this. You're both quite powerful in your own rights."

Being the level headed person she is, both parties cool down, but the tension is still recognizable.

"Now about your offer… We've really been in need of a training session," Asuna tells the mech. "That and we're currently dealing with Ayaka learning about magic. So it's a pretty bad time."

Reina nods. "So another one joins the group, huh?"

"Not exactly. And really, don't say anything else about it. It would just add another problem we don't need."

"So she hasn't…"

"No."

It's obvious that they are talking around something. "What haven't I done? This is why I'm a little angry with everyone. You treat me like I can't handle these things. I know I'm a little… enthusiastic about some things, but only because I care. So do not treat me like some fool or second class citizen."

"Well," Reina tells her, "in all seriousness, mine was totally accidental. And if it didn't happen, I wouldn't know any more than you. And what I've gotten into really hasn't brought me any joy. Trust me when I say this, but really, you'll be doing yourself a favor in not knowing."

"What are you talking about?" Ayaka asks.

"It's minor. You're making more out of it than it is actually worth," Reina tells her.

Ayaka closes her eyes and takes a breath. She opens her eyes again and says, "I can only assume that it's the fact that most of you can use magic on some level, with Evangeline-san being the best."

"See, that's where you're wrong. I can't use magic on any level actually," Reina explains. "In fact the only reason I know anything is because… Well…" Her voice becomes meek. "I was kidnapped." If metal could blush, she would.

"Still, you're all acting very secret society on me and it's making me feel like you don't want me here."

Negi decides to bite the bullet on this, as it were. "Listen Ayaka-san, it's not that we don't want you here, it's just that I'm trying to protect you. I'd hate for you to get hurt. Something like that would make me feel really bad. That's why I've been trying to keep you at bay, not because I dislike you, but because…"

Ayaka turns really red at this. He is thinking of her after all. "Oh…"She hugs him. "I'm glad you think that much of me. Just promise me you'll stay safe."

Negi can't say much with her chest in his face. "I'll try."

"Okay then. Well then I suppose I should leave you all alone then. Goodbye Negi-sensei." Ayaka bows then begins to leave.

"Ayaka-san…" Negi says. "Why don't you go along with Reina-san?"

"Er… What?" Reina asks.

"Me go with Reina-san? I think I may have caused her enough problems already." The thought of the passionate liplock she gave her during the Kyoto trip springs to mind. She was really close to doing something that makes her stomach wobble.

"Yeah… I don't think that she'd even really care." As a matter of fact, the same thoughts running through Ayaka's mind run through Reina's mind simultaneously. While entirely coincidental, Reina wonders how far Ayaka had intended to go. If she only knew.

"Nonsense. Reina, you could use someone to go along with you and Ayaka could use the view of someone totally new to magic. It's beneficial to both of you. And you could use the company Reina." The mech pilot knows what he's driving at. The only other person that knows anything is Asuna.

"Do I have too?" The mech crosses her arms and taps her foot. Her voice is irresolute, shaky.

"I think it would be good for the both of you."

"But she tried—

Ayaka interrupts. "Reina-san! Please don't bring up such terrible memories."

"How do you think I feel?" Reina asks, distressed.

"What happened between you two?" Setsuna asks.

"She kissed me!" The mech's large metal hand points to Ayaka.

"Geez… Is there anything you haven't locked lips with?" Evangeline asks.

"What?" The mech jerks around like the small vampire scared the heck out of it. "She was the one that ran up to me and started it during the Kyoto trip. I freaked and ran to the restroom in case she wanted to start making out. When she was gone I brushed my teeth so much they haven't been so clean since my last dentist appointment. I'm telling you they don't make water hot enough."

Almost everyone looks at Ayaka. She just stands in astonishment and her face. "B- B- But I thought you were Negi-sensei."

Cheerfully, Konoka asks, "How did you do that? She's so tall."

"She was kneeling."

"Poor thing," Asuna mutters.

Negi responds, "I know." He walks up to attract attention. "See? This is the perfect time to talk things through. Just trust me on this." Reina and Ayaka groan at the same time. "No complaining. Consider it a favor for your teacher."

Both of the parties break down and accept the young boy's terms.

"Good. Now Reina-san, be sure to answer any questions Ayaka has," the mech girl sees a small wink on his face, "and Ayaka, make sure not to be to forceful, okay?"

"Right," answers Reina. _Don't talk about pactio _is what the wink said.

"Yes sensei," Ayaka replies.

Reina opens the hatch door and lowers the winch. Ayaka walks over to the foot step reluctantly. With sigh, she grabs a hold of the cable and braces herself for the short ride up. Once inside, she sees Reina in her chair, plugged in just like the last time she was inside the mech.

"Promise you won't try to kiss me?" Reina asks as she lifts off.

"Okay, with them gone, everyone back to training! Now!" Evangeline barks.

* * *

"I'm sorry about that, okay? We… We were having a contest and I guess I got a bit wrapped up. I never meant anything by it."

"It's okay I guess." Reina says this knowing full well if it weren't for the mech she's in, there would be no way the two of them would talk to each other.

"Thanks Reina-san. As the class representative, I try and make sure to get along with all of my classmates. I think having a good rapport with the other girls is an essential part of the duties placed upon me. And the incident between us back there was something that's been bugging me for a while. I just wasn't sure how to go about repairing the damage I made in the relationship between us.

"It's just that… the contest obviously involved Negi, and I got a little carried away. So again, I'm sorry."

"You like Negi a lot, don't you?"

Ayaka flushes hotly. "I! I'm only looking out for his welfare! He's much too young to be on his own and I worry! And besides, what about you? First day in our school and you planted your lips on his."

It seems to get warmer in the cabin. "It was an accident. I'm not good with public speaking," Reina lies. "I got up there and couldn't handle everyone looking at me."

"So what was it that Evangeline-san was talking about that you've done twice with Negi-sensei? You hadn't better have done THAT."

"NO! No, no, no!" Her flight patter wobbles roughly. She briefly looks like she's trying to tread water. "What she was talking about was dealing with magic. I've… run defense a few times as it were. Since magic requires a charge time, a mage is left unguarded while casting spells, so a good mage has a partner or two to keep themselves defended while they cast. And you can't get much better than me for a partner since I am what I am." She sounds a bit proud that she basically pulled that explanation out of thin air.

"Perhaps I should speak to you. I do not understand most of what you said. But you sound like an old pro at it."

"Bah. I really don't know anything, plus I can't ever use magic. So in a small way, Evangeline-san was right. I'm not all that useful as a partner, since a mage can quickly power up their defenders. Since I can't use magic, when Negi was practicing, I got a pretty bad headache."

"You're not completely useless. You have this mech, like you said."

"But Evangeline—

"Oh forget what she said. Inside this thing, I'm sure you don't need any powering up. I dare anyone to take you down with an entire army."

"That's just it. Outside the Ivory Knight here, I'm worthless to them since I can't ever use magic."

"Well, if it makes you feel any better, neither can a lot of people."

"You can hear me but you aren't listening. The average person you find on the street could probably use magic in some capacity if given the proper training. I've got definitive proof that I can't ever."

"How do you have proof? If you just apply yourself, I'm sure you could use magic," Ayaka tries to support her classmate.

Reina disagrees. "See I literally cannot use magic. It turns out the stuff in my head was made to prevent me from doing so. A lot has happened since the last we spoke. I'll explain along the way."

* * *

When the two girls arrive at Kaminari, Reina's brought Ayaka up to speed on everything, save pactios. That's a nightmare she and the others simply do not need. As she flies in, she can see the large, red, shape of the Red Dragon. It is much larger than the Ivory Knight, which becomes apparent when she lands next to it.

"Got a whole load of friends with you?" he shouts up.

The Ivory shakes her head. "No. Just one." Reina opens up the hatch and Ayaka rides the cable down.

"Oh, hello. My name is William Whitehall," he bows, "but I'm sure you've heard all that earlier."

"It's good to meet you, sir. My name is Ayaka Yukihiro." She bows her greeting.

"Yukihiro… I should know that name." He crosses his arms, looks thoughtfully upward, and taps his foot.

Ayaka has seen Reina make this gesture on a couple of occasions, but only from a distance. "Whitehall-san, my family runs a zaibatsu company."

"Ah. That's probably it. Well, anyway, it's very nice to meet you. It's not very often Reina brings a friend over. In fact this is the third time. I'm glad she's able to make friends easily despite basically living here and not really having any."

"In all actuality, this was the suggestion of our teacher."

"That Negi boy. I was surprised to find out he was a teacher. When I was his age, I was too busy playing with toy robots. I suppose I never really grew up," William mentions. "Ah, but you're not here to listen to the life story of some old man," he says jovially.

"You were gracious enough to invite me along so I can at least listen to my host." Ayaka smiles a courteous smile.

Reina comes down in the cable, swiftly taking an apprehensive stance when she is on the ground. Sometimes a giant robot can make all the difference when it comes to interpersonal relationships.

"How are you?" William asks his daughter, already knowing.

"O- O- Okay… en- enough."

"Good. Well, let's get going. I don't want to keep you all day. Um… Ayaka-san, if you wish, please sit over here with the rest of the technicians behind the special blast shield." He motions over to the small group of technicians and their cluster of computers.

"Okay." She steps over to them and sits in one of a number of empty seats.

"Non-company personnel in range!" shouts a man in a stern black suit.

She can see a seat much like the one Reina sits in while inside the Ivory Knight. Sure enough, Reina takes a seat in it and plugs herself in. "Excuse me, Whitehall-san?"

"Yes?"

"If I can ask, how does this work? Since I've found out, I'm very curious about how something like this is possible."

"Well, it's complicated. You don't strike me as someone who'd be interested in all the technical jargon, so I'll summarize. It takes the mind and places it within the robot. It doesn't copy it since that'd just cause a lot of mostly ethical problems, and it doesn't remove the physical brain as that would just be overly traumatic and is a once only thing," he explains. "So it moves the mind into a special computer inside the mech, and from there, the mech becomes her actual body. What we're doing with the set-up here is testing a wireless transfer protocol as well as testing the mecha."

"So amazingly advanced! Now how does it actually move the mind then?" Ayaka follows up.

"Reina's brain has a network of biological chips and wires. When she plugs herself in, she initiates the upload when she wants and it moves her brainwaves over… I hope this is making sense. I find it hard to explain without going in to deep."

"No it's fine. I get the gist of it."

"Okay!" Reina says from inside the larger red machine and flashes a thumbs up. "I can tell it's still slower than the Ivory Knight. In truth… I feel a little fat."

The technicians check all kinds of numbers and make all kinds of notes.

"It's probably the fact the Red Dragon is much larger and slower, so it's natural to feel that way. We're going to do a regular target test with live ammo, so, you know… try and avoid shooting in our direction."

"Of course!"

"One more thing," William says before the test starts. "The Red Dragon was created with one purpose in mind, to hang in the air and lay down a carpet bomb." The techs at the monitors can tell Reina's not too happy about such a statement, but as her father, he already knows. "Keep in mind what you're fighting are dummies, okay?"

"Right… Right."

William hands Ayaka a headset with a microphone. She puts it on and hears, "It might get a little loud."

Reina lifts off, generating a forceful gust with the engines made for the Red Dragon. It is a lot different than the virtual test she took a while ago. There is a lot more power in the engines than she had originally thought. It's not long before she finds herself high in the air.

She reports, "The horizontal movement leaves a lot to be desired, but the vertical liftoff and thrust are incredible."

"Exactly. Like I said, it's meant to hang in the air precisely as it shouldn't."

Using the boosters in the feet of the mech, she tries to coax as much forward movement out of the Red Dragon as possible. Traveling at a snail's pace, for a giant red walking tank, she feels like it takes forever to reach the target dummies.

A split second later, the new targeting system gives her all sorts of data regarding statistical splash damage, target data, and any number of other stats about the current situation. The numbers flow about in her mind forming thought and information. Within a few seconds, she knows the best course of action.

She aims her two arm mounted grenade launchers and the two grenade cannons on her back at four different points on the field. Knowing full well the recoil of the weapons, she quickly stops boosting and fires all four weapons at once, the force of which knocks her higher into the air.

Explosive force and fire rips across the field, destroying the mechs and ripping out larger chunks of ground and pavement, leaving a sizeable crater. The concussive wave can be felt deep in the technicians, William's, and Ayaka's bodies.

Not being a Hollywood style explosion, the smoke and dust clear quickly, revealing the devastation. The technicians… hell, everyone within eyesight, has their mouths agape.

"_I really don't like this. This is overkill, isn't it?_" Reina ponders.

Someone contacts Reina on a private channel "So so so… This is the Red Dragon. It looks so slow. But isn't that always how it goes? Big and slow, but with lots of power."

The voice is so familiar to her. "Damn it! Why now?" She turns to the direction the signal is hailing from.

"Reina? What's up?" William asks, puzzled by the sudden change in her current readings.

"He's coming."

"WHAT? Damn it! Why now?" William groans and everyone else begins to get out of the area.

"What's going on?" Ayaka asks.

"Just come with us. Some really bad stuff might be happening," William explains, "and as a non-combatant, I don't want you, me, or any of them to get hurt or worse." He whistles loudly and makes a looping hand gesture to get everyone in gear and moving.

A black globule flies from out in the distance and splatters over the Ivory Knight. "Just to keep you from jumping ship. After all, I'm here to see what this new mech can do."

Reina grunts in frustration as her speed is a main focus of her personal style. "Shit." This is just what she loves, being gimped in a fight.

William, Ayaka, and the others get inside a room in a nearby building where they can watch what's happening. Them, along with others that were already inside the building watch with rapt attention. William hurries to a nearby computer and cancels out of whatever the employee was doing before the fight broke out.

"Sir, I was…"

"Not important right now," William offers. He works quickly to cobble a connection to the Red Dragon. The signal is being patched through so many systems there's annoying wait time before a connection is established.

"Dad?"

"Yeah, I had to go this route because we hadn't quite installed the mobile connection yet. We were saving it for last, but whatever."

"That black stuff is preventing the Ivory from moving."

William suggests, "Try pulling it out with the Red Dragon. It's quite powerful in hand to hand. It might be able to tear the Ivory out of that glop."

Reina puts down the grenade launchers and tries his suggestion, lifting as hard as the Red Dragon can to pull the Ivory out of the mess it's in while also trying to keep it off the Red Dragon. In case it happens to be contagious or something.

Before any real progress can be made, she's getting shot at. She quickly abandons the Ivory in favor of not getting covered in bullet holes.

"So I'm stuck in this slow body huh? Gotta do the best I can then." Rather uncoordinatedly, she leans forward as she slides in order to grab the launchers she dropped earlier. "Maybe if I don't fire them all at once, there won't be as much splash damage."

Hisao knows what's happening and dashes out of the way before the barrels can even be pointed at him. "That's not going to work." He zigzags his way over to her, the barrels trailing him constantly.

The moment he's right up on her, he fires up his blade and angles it to rip through up through the cockpit. If he succeeds, then Schwarzerschutz has nothing to worry about. If not, then they'll get more data.

Reina cold clocks him with the barrel of the launcher before he can move to stab her. Moving swiftly, she dumps the ammo containers for both weapons and tosses the launchers farther away. "Sorry dad, they're just too slow. And if I happened to hit him, then there's a chance for splash damage."

"Understandable, just do your best. I know you can defeat him. Maybe you'll even be able to knock some sense into him."

"I'll try my best."

Ayaka watches the fight and can hear father and daughter interacting when something crosses her mind. She thinks back to when Reina mentions having a brother.

"Whitehall-san… Is that her brother?"

William looks surprised. "Err… Yeah. But how did you know that?"

"She mentioned it once back in Kyoto. We were talking about… Well it was nothing." Ayaka lets it slide.

"Ah. Not by birth though. He's not my son. I'll just say that things are complicated right now and things are made worse by the fact he took our Ebony Knight."

"Does that mean he's like Reina? With those connections?"

"Yes."

Reina plods around, swinging and missing with club-like arm strikes. Hisao's mobility is just too much for her to counter. Many possible battle strategies run through her mind when an opening appears. Giving it her all she reaches forward and grabs a hold of Hisao. She keeps him off the ground with one arm.

"Damn it Hisao!" she shouts and slams him to the ground. Shuffling her weight, the Red Dragon's heavy metal foot moves to stomp the Ebony Knight's head in.

Hisao rolls to the side and avoids eating Reina's foot. He's able to get the Ebony Knight to fly to a standing position. Reina flares her jets as she begins an upward club swing. When the impact connects it sends Hisao tumbling over. Easily working the momentum, Reina brings about both arms into a sledgehammer strike.

Hisao boosts back ever so briefly in reaction. It isn't much good as she clips him anyway. "_Damn thing is too strong!_" He actually bounces off the ground as Reina reaches out and catches him.

She lifts him up easy and slams him hard on the ground again. As Hisao lies on the pavement, he rolls to one side to avoid getting stomped on.

"You! You!" Hisao complains.

"Yes?" asks Reina, a hint of smugness in her voice. She knows it will get to him and cause him to make mistakes. It's not often he loses his cool, but when he does…

He seems to relax, crumbling Reina's plan. He boosts around to her side, dodging a swing from the Red Dragon's club like arm, and gets around behind her. With a swift movement, he tried to hack away at the back of the Red Dragon's knee joints. After a few swings, nothing much happens.

"Plasma resistant metal," Reina alerts him. "Just for cases like this!" She twists with her boosters and tries to grab a hold of him again. As he backs away, she fakes him out and instead straight punches him. "I've always been better at hand-to-hand, and I've made the fight just that. Give it up."

She plods slowly forward, every step threatening, shaking the ground with intent.

Hisao goes over all of his options, slowly backing up while Reina marches towards him. He gets an idea. Jets flare up and he rises up into the air. He swings his leg around while flying forward, attempting to kick Reina in the head. Before he can do that, she reaches into the air, grabs him, turns around and slams him down on the ground.

The damage is starting to rack up quickly from all of her powerful attacks. Several non-vital systems shut down. If he needed to breathe, Hisao would be doing so now. Several points were going into critical state. Time for one last—

His sister opens her power source to maximum, and gives joints priority. Reina grabs him by the head and spins around several times before—

"Genesic!"

She tosses him skyward. His thrusters having cut out, probably a result of the previous attack where she slammed him on the ground.

"Emerald!"

Reina leans back and blasts her jets as hard as she can, hurtling through the air to meet Hisao. She grabs his head and quickly changes the direction her thrusters are aimed by twisting herself around.

"Reina!"

Gravity and her engines send them literally rocketing towards the ground. The g-forces build to an immense amount when—

"BUSTER!"

Hisao's vision statics out and then goes blank as great chunks of concrete jut up from Hisao's impact crater. Safety systems prevent as much damage to his living body as they can.

Reina slumps over from both the weight of her systems taking some strain during the last attack and the heavy handed reference it made. "Damn it Hisao," she mutters.

Ayaka, William, and a few of the technicians sit in silence as a shockwave works its way through the building. Lights flicker, loose objects rattle, and a few things fall off of the shelves. Most of the technicians, as always, are more focused on the data they've gotten from the battle.

"The hydraulics are nominal, power circuits are all showing strain, most important joints are stressed, and several of the thrusters are burned out. Sir, it wasn't made for that kind movement."

William replies, "I know that, but as always, she's shown us just what these things can do and where we need to do some work."

"_Wow… Reina-san. I didn't know you had that kind of power,_" Ayaka thinks to herself. "_But I think it's probably too much for Negi-sensei. It's this kind of thing that must have lead to Negi-sensei's head injury. If you keep hanging around with her, you're likely to get severely hurt, and I can't have that._"

Reina musters the last of the Red Dragon's reserves and gimps her way over to the Ivory. She grabs it in a bear hug and begins pulling with everything that the Red Dragon's systems can muster. The black goop begins ripping apart as bits of it splatter about. She grunts with one last pull and the Ivory Knight is free from the mucky prison.

"No… energy… left to…"

"Reina?" William asks.

"I'm very tired. I gotta try and… transfer…" She weakly begins to transfer her mind back over to the Ivory Knight. She shuts down energy flow to any non-important areas like the legs and arms. It's not long before she reawakens inside the Ivory Knight. "…A dream within a dream."

Outside, several larger ships begin approaching from the air. William recognizes them right away. "No surprise there. Looks like Schwarzerschutz has come to pick up their scavenged goods." His phone begins to ring. "Hello Ms. Rachel Lynch. Come to take my mech again eh?"

"You know very well that the moment he left, he became a free agent. I'm just taking advantage of a situation. Just. Like. You.

"All those recent battles your daughter has had, the expo a while back… And don't forget that newspaper interview with that school that InfinIT attacked. You've done nothing but make yourself look good. Pitiful."

William responds, "This stuff happens when you get to the top. What's it feel like huh? To be the second best? And you totally discredit my daughter. She's the one who is basically the face of this company. I'm just a guy at a desk."

"And you're a bad parent too. Leaving your daughter to fight all your fights."

"Big talk from an old crone." Rachel scoffs at him and hangs up. "That damn woman knows just which one of my buttons to push."

Back out on the battlefield, Reina take a moment to recover and then dive back into the Ivory. Quietly, she whispers, "Adeat!" She concentrates the force bubble within the Ivory and rapidly expands it. The black slime that covers the mech flies off in every direction."

"Ready for action Ivory Knight! Let's go!" Reina shouts as the takes off towards the biggest of the incoming airships.

In response they start to open fire. Red hot chunks of lead zip past the white machine, wanting to tear a hole through it. She loops through and around the bullets and lands on the ship's "deck." The crew members inside see the face of the Ivory peer inside the bridge. Several crew members begin crying out in fear.

She fires up her sword and the crew members that can see from the bridge begin screaming and fleeing, turning all those around Rachel into a sea of chaos.

"You wouldn't dare," Rachel says to herself since everyone else around has already lost their heads.

Reina lowers down and in one swift twist, begins carving away at the base of the bridge tower, her plasma cutting the steel slowly but effectively. Its snaps and crackles sing a sick song of destruction with the sound of groaning metal caused by the shifting balance of the tower.

Rachel Lynch pounds her fist down on a nearby desk. "Damn it all."

The lights around her go out, signaling that the tower was now free from the rest of the ship. Reina stands up and braces her foot against the tower and presses forward. Inside, Rachel can feel gravity seemingly change direction. She soon finds herself sitting on the wall that was originally behind her.

With a deafening crash, the tower falls and Rachel is covering her face to protect it from breaking glass. She stands up and steps over the clutter all over the new "floor" and climbs down out of the door that was at the back of the room.

* * *

Hisao awakens inside the landing bay of the Schwarzerschutz air ship. It takes a minute for the cloudiness to leave his mind. He's still inside the Ebony Knight. A few company people are trying to enter the hatch.

"Another failure…" He leaves the Ebony and comes back to his own body. He can feel the damage inflicted on his actual body from the final move Reina used on him. "What the hell was that move? There's no way it should have been able to move like that."

The hatch opens and several technicians and company doctors are on the other side, shining lights down on to him, obscuring their faces.

"_Maybe I should have listened to that Chao girl,_" he thinks to himself as someone lowers themselves down in the cockpit.

* * *

Asuna, Konoka, Setsuna and Negi see Reina rise from the stairs leading to their floor.

"So how'd it go?" Asuna asks her as she walks by.

It takes a moment for Reina to answer. "Horribly. I- I'm dead tired a- a- and everything w- went to hell. First Ayaka tod- day and then my br- brother showed up while I w- as testing the n- newest machine. Really… at th- the end, I w- would have rather stayed -d with you g- g- guys. Th- Thanks for the s- sug- gestion." Her exhaustion and general malaise keeps her from being too afraid to talk or really caring much.

"Your brother?" Konoka asks, oblivious of the discontent her friend just displayed. "I didn't know you had one. What's he like? Is he like you?"

"Not now K- Konoka-san… I'm really j- just tired and he has th- th- this way of rub- bing me the wrong way at t- imes. I j- just want to- to- today to b- be over."

Reina quietly makes her way into her room to go to sleep.

**Negima: Femella Intra Machina Chapter 12: End**

**The End of the Chapter Stuff:** Again, sorry to any fans of this for the ONE YEAR delay. If I hadn't messed up when I did, we'd probably be done with this, or at least six or so chapters further in.

Also, yes, I love me some BlazBlue. I rock with Tager, to the point I don't even see Jin as a threat anymore. (And Arakune is slowly losing his threat level.) And Jubei had better be playable in the third game.

**Thanks this Chapter: **TheAnsemMan for proofing what he did. The one fan whom messaged me recently, you helped a little in pulling me out of my slump.

**Thanks for reading, especially after the long wait, and reviewing if you so decide.**


	13. Coconuts and Melons

**Author's Notes:** Okay, let me start by saying that this chapter was going to be one massive information explosion. But the key word is "was." So what ended up happening was this chapter ends up following the manga chapters rather closely, save for a few parts. Hopefully no one finds this too off-putting. At least I'm writing again. Next chapter I plan on trying for more original stuff since, for now, I just want to get used to doing this again.

**Negima: Femella Intra Machina**

**Written by Dark Dragon Dave**

**Chapter 13: Coconuts and Melons**

**Three days previously:**

"I didn't mean anything by it. Really Asuna-san!" Negi pleads. A misstep in choices recently has left a bad taste in Asuna's mouth and now he's paying for it.

"No! You took off and went to fight a dragon and didn't take me!" She states her case. "How long have we been facing magical monsters now? I was there at Kyoto even!"

Negi tears a page from Reina's book while trying to explain what he did. "Listen… I- I- There was—

Asuna cuts through that with ease by pulling on his cheeks. "There's no excuse!"

"Ah wah ooing eh ooh eef uh aahf!" Babble, truly a divine tongue.

Asuna lets go of the boy's mouth. "Kaede ended up telling me everything about the dragon. Damn it Negi, it just riles me that you still can't seem to trust me enough."

"Well, I've always been sort of a source of trouble for you and I wanted to just stay out of your hair for a while. I wanted to keep you uninvolved."

"Why do you think I've been practicing with Setsuna-san?" Her iron grip finds a hold on the young boy's collar.

"I never asked you to do that!"

The keep squabbling for a few minutes as their friends look on, until Negi mentions something he probably shouldn't involving hair and places. This really gets the girl mad and she summons her fan sword. She knocks him back with it despite him trying his damnedest to deflect it.

"I'm not talking to you anymore you IDIOT!" She runs off to just get away from the child.

**Later that evening:**

After having the events weigh on him for a few hours, Negi decides to try and apologize. After getting advice from Chachamaru, Setsuna, Hakase, a strange psychotic doll that suggested killing Asuna to get rid of his problems, and Chamo it seems like the best idea. Not the killing her bit, but the apologizing bit.

"She's not picking up her phone," Negi says, a slight hint of defeat in his voice.

"Summon her with the card!" Chamo offers.

Negi snaps his fingers, "Oh, right. I think I should head outside first. That way she doesn't get summoned in a table or anything. Then she really wouldn't talk to me ever again." He canters happily outside and begins talking to her.

"(Asuna-san? Asuna-san?)"

She reaches out of her shower and put the card to her head. "(What do you want?)" Even in her own mind her tone is angry.

"(I wanted to apologize for earlier. I was out of line and I'm sorry. I think it'd be best if we talked in person though.)" He lifts the card from his head and begins summoning her.

"(WHAT? NO! WAIT!)"

As the circle begins to glow, drawing Asuna from her warm shower, to the cold night forest air, Takamichi begins to approach from out in the darkness.

"Hey there Negi-kun."

Negi is surprised to see him way out here. "Ah. What are you doing out here, Takamichi?"

"Well, I've brought a gift for Eva from the Chief of the West. So whatcha doing there?"

With that, Asuna poofs into existence in front of her most loved teacher and also her most hated one, naked, wet, and completely embarrassed. She sees Takamichi and instantly starts to cry.

"DAMN IT NEGI!"

Negi ends up with a smoldering bump on his head. "I just made things worse."

"Sorry Negi-kun. I guess it was bad timing on my part."

**Presently:**

The Golden Week holidays are rolling around and they don't look like they'll be any fun, at least not for Negi since his best friend hates him for being a screw up. He wanders about in a depressed state, the same depressed state he's been in for the last three days. If it was up to Negi, he'd be walking around in the rain, but the sun just didn't want to cooperate.

"Come on aniki, being this down isn't good for your health," Chamo tells him."It could have been much worse. She could have done a whole lot more damage. And at least you're still alive, right?"

"Well, if she killed me at least I wouldn't be in her hair anymore." He starts flailing around which knocks Chamo off his shoulders.

He was on the verge of whining when a car pulls up, a rather expensive car at that too. It screeches to a halt once the driver realizes he's seemingly hit something small, white, and furry. The noise from the tires is just enough to pull Negi back to a sense of emotional balance, or at least a crooked sense of reality.

A man in a sleek grey suit exits the driver's side door and walks hurriedly to the rear passenger's side door and opens it once when he sees the furry animal walk back to its owner. Negi realizes he's a chauffeur. His passenger is none other than Ayaka Yukihiro.

"What fortune. Good morning Negi-sensei!" she greets after she exits the car. Her smile is just as warm and bright as the sun this morning.

"Good morning Iincho-san." Negi on the other hand is a small, grey, cloud on the horizon.

She grabs his hand. "I hear you've been down the last few days. So I wanted ask you what you were doing for Golden Week or if you were going anywhere."

"N- Not really." Maybe under a nice blanket somewhere to sulk perhaps?

"Okay then. Since it's a long weekend, how would you like to come out to my tropical island in the south? Maybe a little time away will cheer you up. What do you say? Nothing but sun and surf all weekend."

Negi becomes visibly happier. Maybe a little time away is the right idea. "The ocean? Yeah, that sounds good."

* * *

Her plane lands and a bunch of girls get out, then Ayaka and Negi. While the others are already out running amok, Ayaka is making time with Negi. This is going to be her weekend.

"I've got this whole island booked for the day," she says. "So feel free to relax anywhere that strikes your fancy, be it the poolside, beach, or our well equipped and freshly stocked dinning hall."

"Incredible," marvels the child. He is unused to such surroundings and living conditions.

"We could even head over to the beach right… there…" Her aspirations, her lovely weekend, are shot to shreds when all the girls that were with them dive bomb the beach. "My plans for a quiet resort stay with Negi-sensei are gone in a flash. And you two…" She turns to Natsumi and Chizuru.

"Sorry. But once you leaked the info to Kazumi and Haruna-san, it was all over." Chizuru offers a smile and hand wave out of embarrassment.

Kazumi trumpets from out in the sea, "Thanks for inviting the rest of us poor students to this wonderful island!"

"Damn it all!" If it weren't for Negi being beside her, it would have been worse.

Chizuru puts her hands on Ayaka's shoulders and gave a couple of quick rubs. "Blood pressure, settle down."

"Why am I here again?" Asuna asks Konoka and Setsuna.

"You deserve a break. You've been working really hard delivering papers and everything so why not take a small vacation?" She turns to whisper to Setsuna. "With any luck, she'll relax enough to talk to Negi again."

"That'd be nice, but I think the truth is…" Her stalwart bodyguard points to Asuna.

Asuna catches a glimpse of Negi, causing her to huff and turn around. Negi has an anxiety attack when he realizes she's still mad at him.

A glint on the horizon grabs everyone's attention. Once he actually sees it, Negi thinks the way it glimmers looks familiar. It grows in size and becomes another pain in Ayaka's butt.

"What is she doing here?" Ayaka asks while standing on the verge of giving up.

Just as she expects, the Ivory Knight becomes visible, leaving a terrific wake behind it as slides effortlessly over the surface of the water, her engines running open enough to just keep her above the ocean. Every now and again, Reina sticks her foot in the water, causing the water to disrupt even more in great waves.

* * *

Reina can see Ayaka making some kind of hand gestures. "I don't think she wants us here…"

"Nonsense, she's happy to see us," says one of her passengers.

One of her other passengers comments, "And you'll get a chance to try out that new outfit we got you."

"I. Am. Not. Wearing. THAT."

"But you'll look really good in it. It matches your hair really well, do you know how hard it is to work with white hair?"

"I never really thought about it," Reina tells them.

Misa says, "I'd hate to say it, but it's kind of obvious. You'd look much better in some more girly clothes. I suppose we'll get to see you in something a bit more feminine than usual."

"If I even stay. Well, I better slow down or else I'll drown everyone in sea water." She rises into the air well before coming to the island to reduce the wake's impact on the beach. The sand absorbing the Ivory's drop, she lands on the beach without much noise other than her engines.

Kneeling down, she opens the cabin door and uses her hands as platforms for everyone she brought along. All but one girl, Yue, ends up leaving.

"You coming along?" she asks as she drinks on a juice pouch.

"Listen, I don't know how the sea water will affect the connections behind my ears. And I didn't bring my plugs with me. Plus to top it all off, I'm certain Ayaka's mad. So I likely won't be staying."

Yue produces, seemingly out of nowhere, the case Reina's connection plugs come in. "I thought we might run into this and when the others were dragging you out, I happened to pick them up. I saw their case when we were in the bath a while back. Plus we all went in together on that swim wear."

"Err… well… I can pay you back if that's the problem. I just got a feeling I'm not really wanted here." Reina doesn't feel like coming clean about the fact that an island full of girls is the last place she wants to be.

"Okay. First off, ignore Ayaka. She might be a blowhard most of the time, but she's actually a good person. And I didn't want to bring this up, because it'll just make more people worry, but Negi could use a few more friends with him right now."

"What do you mean?" It seems Reina's been out of the loop recently.

"Asuna's been mad at him for the last few days and he's been stressing out over it pretty bad. We've all been trying our best to cheer him up and quite frankly, you both seem to share, at least on some level, a bond… as friends. Maybe you'll be able to help pull him out of this depression he's in."

Reina comments, "They seemed fine when I saw them a couple of nights ago. What happened since then?"

"Apparently, that was the last time they she was civil to him. And as far as what happened between them, I don't know."

Reina sighs, something Yue slightly marvels at. "I suppose I'll see if there's anything I can do. I wouldn't expect much if I were you though. I might be a good friend at most, but… I don't see what reason he'd have to listen to me."

"Well, one more person couldn't help. Come on, we're here for some fun too." Yue stands over by the hatch and waits.

Reina doesn't see any way out of it. They went through the trouble of buying something for her. She's also concerned about Negi. Deciding her problems are a little less important, she returns to her body and unhooks herself.

"Doesn't that hurt?" Yue asks.

"No." She considers her response a personal triumph. A single syllable with no stuttering.

* * *

The Narutaki twins and Kazumi watch Chizuru as she splashes around in the water.

"Her breasts are really big," the twins comment, as they enjoy the view of her coral reefs.

Kazumi reminds them, "She is in the top spot in our class."

"I think I can see them float."

As the other girls join the group, one of the first comments is the lack of boys available, and how because of this travesty, Negi will have to do. So naturally, they go hunting him down.

* * *

Negi swims along, unaware of the Jaws theme playing, and how every sailor knows it means death. He ponders his situation with Asuna like he has for the last few days, making every second a moment of self-torture. On the beach, behind some palm trees, Ayaka observes the young boy floating along, much like a shark waiting to bite.

"_Wow… He really does look depressed. I've got to cheer him up so we can have a few moments to ourselves._"

However, she's not the shark this time.

The sharks strike! "NEGI-SENSEI!" Mako… Err Makie and Ako tackle Negi after sneaking up on him.

"Oh holy sh— blrpblbble" He shrieks as he's taken beneath the waves.

"LET'S PLAY!" Makie yells joyfully, unaware there is a thin line between play and drown.

Ayaka decides to pick what is left of the corpse. "Hey you two, he's with me!"

Haruna catches the smell of blood and alerts her two friends. "The fight's started again. Come on, this time we won't lose!"

Nodoka simply blushes and makes a small squeaking noise.

More girls are attracted to the scent of blood and begin to circle. They fight and struggle over him until he gets loose and runs as fast as one can when they are waist deep in water.

"I just want to be alone today!" He actually treads water pretty well up until he bumps into a couple of coral reefs. "I… think I've felt this before. Such a warm, soft… Oh dear."

"CHIZURU-SAN, I CANNOT BELIEVE WHAT I AM SEEING!" yells Ayaka. "What do you think you're doing holding Negi-sensei between your breasts like that?"

Her answer is, "I wasn't doing anything. He wasn't looking where he was going and now he's caught!"

"RETURN HIM NOW!"

"I can't do anything. He's stuck in my bikini strings." Chizuru tries to lessen the damage Negi's attempts at releasing himself is doing.

Sakurako pops up and asks, "What's this? Another breast size competition?"

One of the girls on the beach repeats that and sets the impromptu contest in motion. Within moments, Negi's up to his eyebrows in sea water and girl's chests. Like a tuna in a net, his attempts to free himself only makes his situation worse.

"Reina! Get down there." Yuna suggests when the girls first begin to swarm.

Reina chokes on her own throat. "W- What?"

"Didn't you hear that? There's a breast size competition going on with Negi-sensei being the judge. You should participate too! I think you might have pulled ahead in the standings."

"I'm n- not even dr- dressed f- f- for that." Then it hits her. "I WHAT?"

"That's why," Yuna comments, "I remembered this." She held up the outfit they pitched in and got her.

"Whoa… I d- don't th- ink… I- I don't w- want to ru- ruin it b- b- by…"

"Nonsense." She grabs Reina and begins dragging her to a nearby changing booth.

Reflexively, Reina pulls out her phone and presses the button. The Ivory Knight stands up and begins walking over to where Reina signaled it. It stomps along, a hollow shell directed by primitive software, its footfalls leaving deep prints in the beach.

"What the heck? I'm trying to get you to loosen up and you sic your robot on me," Yuna admonishes her white haired friend.

"S- S- Sorry," Reina apologizes and blushes out of embarrassment. "It w- was a ref- lex."

"That's fine. You can make up for it by wearing this and having some fun."

It stops short of the changing booth as Reina goes inside with the outfit. Now she has to wear it, partly out of the fact they did spend money on it and as a way to apologize for her rash decision. Not being on a date, she's changed rather quickly.

"Why am I always dragged into these situations?" she asks herself as she opens the door.

Yuna takes a moment. "Hey that doesn't look half bad."

Reina stands there in a blue and white stripped sports-style two-piece swimsuit. "You… You g- gotta be ki- idding me." Yuna grabs Reina again and starts dragging her out to the fracas with Negi. "I'm feel- ling a l- l- little ex… exposed here!"

"It's nothing to worry about. I think you're looking good," the sports girl says as she flashes the thumbs up with her free hand.

"H- Hey! D- Do- Don't j- just dr… drag me t- t- to the water! I d- don't ha- have my plugs i- in yet!"

"Well, just be careful until then," advises Yuna.

With a heave, Reina is now up against a bunch of other girls and the hapless Negi. She manages to keep things together despite the fact that she's rubbing shoulders with girls, and worse, her chest is being pressed up Negi. Well, in all honesty, she didn't mind, but… It doesn't matter. This whole situation is wrong.

Before anything worse can happen, she put the rubber plugs in behind her ears. Some people need water wings, she needs to keep the seawater out of her head. With that out of the way, she looks back to see Yuna is still watching her from the beach. Yuna gives her another quick thumbs-up.

"Reina-san, you get out of this right now," Ayaka orders her. "You've already had enough time with Negi-sensei."

"I think it's time to get some new measurements!" Kazumi states and presents her tape measure.

Reina can see Negi is miserable. "H- Hey…"

"You too Reina-san." Kazumi's tone is off. The reporter thinks to herself, "_She's so fun to watch squirm._"

"Negi-sensei gets to be the judge in case of ties!" declares Makie.

"_I'm in an insane asylum!_" Reina thinks.

At the same time, Negi thinks between periods of salt water going up his nose, "_I'm in a marshmallowy hell…_"

* * *

After the nonsense is over, Negi gets away for himself for a few minutes. He heaves a heavy sigh as he looks out over the ocean. Chamo sits next to him after having found a few nearby edible berries. The ermine nibbles them quietly for a while before a group of girls approach.

"Are you sure those things are okay to eat?"

"Yeah, they're good."

Ayaka, Natsumi, Chizuru, and Kazumi walk down the beach towards him.

"Negi-sensei…" Ayaka starts, "We wanted to apologize for before. We went over the line." Ayaka and the others sit down in the sand near the teacher. "I see you're still feeling down. I hope you don't consider it rude of me to ask why?"

"Well… I had a big fight with Asuna-san. I've tried really hard to try and make things up, but I just ended up making things worse."

The girls that aren't Ayaka begin passing around their ideas.

"Aww…" She rubs the top of his head, ruffling his hair. "Please, if you will allow me, I shall see to it that Negi-sensei and Asuna-san make up." Her eyes full of shine and words full of butter.

"R- Really?"

Ayaka stands up. "Yes. I'll handle the situation like it was a priceless vase. So you stop worrying."

"Thank you so very much."

The other girls look puzzled.

Natsumi asks quietly, "What was that? It feels completely out of character for you. Are you feeling okay?"

"You could have scored some major sympathy points with Negi-kun," Kazumi tells her blonde friend.

"Despite what a lot of you may think," Ayaka answers harshly but quietly enough to not be heard by Negi, "I'm not like that. When I see him like this, it makes me feel awful. Especially since him and Asuna are usually such good friends."

"Poor girl's going to be in such pain when it comes to love in the future," Kazumi figures.

Chizuru pitches in. "That's really nice Ayaka. I shall cooperate too."

"Thank you Chizuru-san. I really appreciate it. Well, I'm going to go start talking to Asuna. You guys… do whatever it is you're going to do." Ayaka trots off with a light step and a happy heart.

* * *

"R- R- Really Asuna-san… Co- Could you at l- least hear him out?" Reina asks her classmate unsuccessfully. Somehow, helping Negi has become pleading with Asuna. First off, Asuna is a girl and that isn't something Reina can hope to argue with. Secondly, Reina's never tried negotiating. She's no Roger Smith, that's for sure.

"No. Quit pushing it."

"I d- don't see wha- what the problem i- is."

Asuna turns to her and barks out, "Of course you don't." Reina shrinks away. "Sorry if I seem a little scary, but I just don't want to talk to him right now."

A sad look changes Reina's face. "I- I'm sorry for b- b- bothering you."

With a heavy sigh, Asuna speaks as Reina begins walking away. "Hey… It's not you okay. I understand your predicament and I'm not trying to be threatening, but what he did was unforgivable."

Thinking of Negi, Reina asks, "W- What di- did he d- do?"

"I've said I'm not talking about it."

Reina cannot believe these words are coming out of her mouth. "W- We're bo- both girls. I… I th- th- think I can t- take it." She's never had to be in this situation before so this is mildly uncomfortable for her. And what happened to her talking to Negi, seriously? The only thing that's happened so far is her getting thrown into a bunch of other girls and accidentally rubbing her chest up against her teacher.

Asuna chuckles. "I don't know if you could."

Well, she tried. Reina decides to try and hunt down Negi and see if she can help him out of his funk at least. Before she can walk away, Ayaka comes running up, making Reina reactively block and cover her face.

"We've got deep troubles this time! Negi's caught his foot and is stuck in some deep water. He's really gonna drown this time!"

With a rush of wind, Asuna is out of there and heading towards the water. Ayaka and Reina's hair flutters in the aftermath.

Reina is more impressed than Ayaka, mostly because Ayaka's seen her run before. Both parties head in the same direction, the white haired girl tossing fear to the curb since it's a life and death situation. When the two trailing girls arrive they see fins in the water. See? The Jaws theme means death. No one ever listens.

"I'M GONNA DIE!" Negi cries out. It's impossible to tell if he's crying or if it's seawater flowing off his face.

Asuna leaps into action and swims as fast as she can towards Negi. As the other two are about to leap in as well, someone tries to grab them. They're successful on Ayaka, and mistakenly grab Setsuna, who also happened to be readying herself to take out a couple of sharks.

Reina heads off towards the Ivory Knight. Chizuru comes out of nowhere and grabs her before she can make a huge error. "Stop Reina-san. We need to talk privately." Her voice is sing-songy.

Reina switches from "Save Negi Mode" to "Run Like A Chicken Mode" since bad things seem to happen when girls voices start getting all musical like that. Unfortunately, she's unable to get any traction in the sand. She asks, "W- W- What d- do… d- d- do y- y- you want?"

Chizuru look her straight in the eyes, her smile unwavering. It is creepy… Incredibly creepy. "Listen, what we have here is a sort of play to try and help get Asuna and Negi to make up. Natsumi and Ku-Fei are in those shark outfits. Negi's completely safe."

The combination of Chizuru and fear has a strange effect on Reina's brain. Just like the first time she crashed head first in Chizuru's ample presence, her mind fogs over and she can hear alarm sounds, familiar alarm sounds. A powerful wave of despair washes over her and she drops to her knees.

"No… Wake up… Mo…Mom!"

"Reina-san? Are you okay?"

Over with Ayaka and Setsuna, they get a similar explanation from Kazumi. This doesn't sit well with the blonde at all.

"What the heck were you thinking?"

"It was Chizuru's idea. We took the shark display from the lobby and one of the shark toys for costumes. But we didn't plan on her just diving in like that."

* * *

Negi watches the swirling sharks and realizes all he can do is counterattack. Standing on the ocean floor, he takes a stance and readies himeself.

"_Using the kenpo Ku-Fei taught me and the magic distribution Evangeline showed me…_" He is able to dash underwater and aims for the gills of one of the sharks.

Shark-Fei has other ideas though. She counterattacks and is able to block every one of the child's strikes. Somehow, she gets a fin on him and tosses him skyward. When he lands back in the water, he begins swimming away in panic.

"That thing knows kenpo? What the heck?"

A slight laughter comes from inside the shark that Negi can't hear over his panic. Asuna decides to summon her sword when she sees that Negi is about to be magic floating dinner. She rears back with it and with a single powerful swing, ends up splitting the small lagoon in two and sends Shark-Fei and Natsharkmi flying.

"What was that? She just… She just cut the sea in two!" Kazumi asks while freaking out.

"Asuna-san? Was that you?" Negi asks from Asuna's arms. "Thank you."

"You okay Negi?"

"I'm fine."

Asuna looks down to see the two girls in the shark outfits. "What is this?"

"I… We…"

"Asuna-san, this was all me!" Ayaka pleads. "We were trying to get you to make up with Negi-sensei and…"

"Listen you stupid brat…!" Negi covers his face as he thinks she's going to strike him down. No hit comes, instead she places a hand gently on his face. "When you pull pranks like this," the tears forming in her eyes made him feel bad, "I honestly get worried about you. Idiot."

"I… I'm sorry."

Now she smacks him. "You idiot!" With that, she runs off again.

Negi climbs up off the beach, a Negi-shaped crater where he was laying and a smoking bump on his head. "I said I was sorry."

Setsuna notes, "She was crying?"

Ayaka says, "I'm so terribly sorry Negi-sensei… All of this is my fault." Her heart is broken by what just happened.

"Hey guys," Chizuru interrupts. She looks over the aftermath of what her plan accomplished. "Oh wow… I think I may have over done it."

"That's seems to be putting it mildly," Konoka says.

"But hey, when you guys can recover, I think something's wrong with Reina-san."

"What happened?" Negi asks, salty streaks running down his face.

Chizuru doesn't know how to explain it. "I think she's… broken? It is like she just blanked out."

The small group moves over to where Reina still is. The look on her face says she's anywhere but on that island.

"What did you do?" Negi asks Chizuru.

"Nothing, I just grabbed her when she was headed for her machine there and told her to wait. And then it was like she checked out on me."

"Oh dear." Negi realizes the sense of fear Reina has around girls probably got to her to the point she must have done something similar to passing out. "Reina?" he asks as he lowers himself enough to be in her field of view.

"I… Want to remember. W- Why?"

Ayaka readies her hand and slaps Reina a good one. "You're making Negi-sensei worry when he really doesn't need this right now!"

"Iincho-san!" Chizuru, Negi, Setsuna, and Konoka exclaim out of shock.

"Ouch! What just happened?" Reina asks herself from her new position sprawled out on the beach. She whines, "My face hurts."

"Are you okay Reina-san?" Negi asks, moving back to where she can see him.

"Uh… I think so. You don't look to good though. Your poor head."

"I'm getting used to it anymore." It's still throbbing though.

"I feel like I got my jaw realigned," Reina says as she rubs the side of her face Ayaka popped her on.

"That's because Ayaka slapped you."

Reina looks around to find Ayaka, Setsuna, Konoka, and Chizuru standing around her. The color drains from her face when she sees all of them standing over her and generally looking menacing… Well menacing to her anyway.

Negi laughs nervously. "Hey, why don't you girls—

"Nononono! I'llbefinelater!" Reina quickly stands up and scrambles over to the Ivory Knight where she was originally headed. A moment later, she was up and hiding in the cabin.

"I wonder what brought that on?" Chizuru ponders out loud. Negi reacts since he knows, but doesn't say anything. "Oh ho ho! I think I understand. Negi-sensei, please remember that feelings are a mental state so think positive thoughts and things will get better! Girls, I think we need to have a chat."

As the girls walk away, Negi calls out, "Don't jump to any conclusions!" When that seems to go unheeded, he mutters to himself, "This is going to end up badly, I just know it."

The winch of the Ivory Knight lowers down again. Negi walks over and shouts up, "Do you want to talk?"

"Maybe. Could I ask you a favor?"

"Yes, of course."

"I hate to be a bother, but my clothes are still in the changing hut here. Could you get them?"

"Yeah." Negi goes in and begins getting Reina's clothes. He gets a red face when he has to pick up her bra and panties. Things around Negi being what they are, before he can put them away, he's suddenly interrupted by a few of the girls in his class.

"Negi-sensei, we saw you come in here and…" Ako stops when she sees him holding Reina's bra.

Akira can only look on in surprise. Such a move is bold, unexpected, and slightly—

"Pervert Negi!" Makie blurts out.

He drops the garment instantly. "It's not what you think!"

Haruna comes up and nudges him in the ribs. "Quite the player, eh kid? First you get us all worried about you, then Ayaka _invites_ us all out to her island as a way of cheering you up, and then you go around and steal our underwear. And have us all to yourself in a tropical paradise. That's one hell of a bold move kid. But you got caught this time!"

"Nononononononononononono!" Negi protests, trying to make sure his students understand his moral compass remains firmly pointed at lawful good. "That's not it!"

"Admit it, a bunch of beautiful girls lounging around in swim wear and plenty of sun. What male wouldn't want that?"

"Oh… Negi-kun, are you becoming a man?" Makie asks. "So who here's going to have to have 'the talk' with him?"

Akira nominates herself. "I think I might be a bit more even handed than some. Chizuru-san I think would be good choice too since she's quite motherly."

"I was helping Reina-san. Honest."

Makie tells him, "There's no need to be so shy Negi-sensei. At a certain age, you eventually start to feel special ways about other people. There's no need to hide it because it's perfectly natural."

"I DON'T NEED TO BE HAVING THIS TALK RIGHT NOW." Negi begins to panic and tries to head out of the door. He'll buy Reina new clothes if need be, he just needs to get out, NOW!

Yuna blocks him. "I think I can handle this. I'll tell him what my dad told me."

"Wasn't that 'Mess around with boys like that and I'll disown you'?" Akira asks her.

"No, we had a proper talk before that. He was joking that one time. Besides, I know better."

Negi's panic attack breaks as he resolves himself to getting a bunch of lectures on an uncomfortable topic from a bunch of overeager girls that keep fawning over him.

Outside, Reina wonders what is holding Negi up, and looks down and out of the Ivory Knight. She sees the group of girls and knows right away they have trapped Negi inside. She squints a bit as she ponders her options and thinks that discretion is the better part of valor, or something.

Yuna moves the underage teacher over to a seat and sits him down. "With us around, you've got nothing to worry about. When it comes to girl problems or questions, we've got your back. No other boy on the face of the planet is as golden as you are right now."

"Then could you tell me how to fix my situation with Asuna?" he asks, genuinely hoping for support.

"Well, Asuna is a special case. And I don't have all the details there. Besides, we're supposed to be helping you with your other problem here," Yuna replies. "So… is there anyone special you may have strange feelings for?"

Of course they weren't going to be of any help, no one else has been yet. Why should they have been any different?

"It's obvious, isn't it?" Haruna asks, thinking she's got the answer. "Whose clothes was he going through?"

"Lesse, cargo pants… Reina-san?" Makie asks.

"She has been rather bold with her move, kissing him on the first day and everything. I guess it was to be expected."

They all start talking at once.

Negi asks loudly, trying as best he can to overcome the cacophony, "Would you please stop and listen to me?" The girls stop and look at him and a strange quiet fills the small room. "You really all have been jumping to conclusions. Reina-san asked me to come down and get the clothes she left in changing booth since what happened in the water earlier embarrassed her and she's too scared to come down."

"Really?" Akira asks. "Well, if that's true, perhaps we should go up and apologize."

"I can handle this," Negi tells them. "And as a teacher, I'll need experience in dealing with these things when other classes come along. I mean, you girls won't be my students forever, right?"

The five girls all nod. "Okay Negi-sensei, we'll leave this up to you then. But should you need any help for anything, please don't hesitate to ask," Akira reminds him.

"Right. If I need any help with that I'll be certain to seek you out, but for now I've got to get Reina's clothes up to her because I think she wants to leave."

Makie sighs. "But the more the merrier. Is she really going? How will some of us get back otherwise?"

Negi adjusts his glasses as it seems his ploy is working. "I'll see if I can convince her to stay, but for that, I need to get going." He begins making his way to the door and isn't stopped along the way.

"No trysts now," Haruna warns him, "unless you tell me about it. Shota mangas always have at least a small following!"

Negi is just glad to be away from the madness. He holds Reina's clothes in what could be described as more or less of a pile, and heads up on the Ivory Knight's winch. He enters the cabin and hands over Reina's clothes.

Negi asks, "Do you want me to leave?"

"Eh, it's up to you. The least you could do is stand in the hatchway there and face out. No peeking now."

"I would never!" Negi turns red and heads over to the hatch, doing as Reina asked.

"We'll see in five years, how about then?" Reina offers a chuckle.

Negi can only sputter to which only causes Reina to laugh harder. Life never gets any easier for the kid.

Reina talks to him to keep him involved. "I saw you get caged in down there, and I would have come to help you, but there are some firefights even I can't win."

"It's okay. I understand."

"No, it isn't. I keep telling myself I'm going to try and get better, but I keep putting it off and forgetting it. Had that been an actual combat situation, and I didn't have the Ivory, I don't know how I'd react. I'm pathetic."

"I think I could count on you," the young teacher says. "I've noticed you do have some courage in you when people are in trouble."

"Thanks for that. Now if I can find some motivation, maybe I can pass for normal at some point."

Once she's dressed back in her usual attire, Negi and her sit on the floor of the Ivory, legs dangling over the edge of the hatchway.

"So why is Asuna mad at you again?" Reina asks. "Yue-san told me she wanted me to try and talk to you since you were feeling down and try to help patch things up. And since Ayaka's little stunt seems like it didn't help any if there's anything you want to talk about, we can. Anything you don't feel comfortable with, we can avoid it."

"I don't know what I did. I was following the map I got in Kyoto from my father, and when I decided to explore the Library, I decided not to bring Asuna along since I feel I've become nothing but trouble to her. Instead I ended up taking Kaede, and when we got there, Nodoka and Yue ended up coming along too."

"Wait, which library?"

"The one in Mahora. You weren't there for the study session deep within the Library and the golem that resided there. The Mahora Academy Library is rather huge and has many secret levels and passages. There's even a club dedicated to exploring it."

Reina feels kind of sad. It seems she missed quite a bit. "Oh. I… Hmm. Anyway, what happened this time?"

"We ended up finding a dragon, or at least it looked like one. Yue insisted it was a wyvern. But I didn't have time to think about it when it decided to try and make a snack of all of us. We all got out relatively safe thanks to Kaede, but when Asuna found out; she got really mad at me for some reason. Later on, when I tried to apologize, I accidentally summoned her in front of Takamichi-sensei while she was taking a shower and ended up naked in front of both of us."

"Oh jeez…"

"Now I can't even say a single word to her because she gets mad and walks off before I speak. All I want to know is what I did wrong."

"You guys seemed fine the other day."

"She was simply being civil to me. And it's not like she's beating up on me or anything, so don't think that. It's just that she's just not talking to me." Negi sighs deeply.

"Well, all I can say is let her have a cool down phase. It could take a week, it could take her two. But if she's really a friend, she'll calm down and things will be good again."

"I wish they were good now."

"Don't rush things like this. I know I may have spent a bit too much time at Kaminari, but trust me when I say to take things calmly and easily." Reina puts a supportive arm around him. "Okay? So no more feeling blue. It will all be better in a matter of time!" Negi smiles at her. "Things are better already."

"So why did you come out here anyway? It doesn't seem like an island full of girls would be somewhere you'd be."

"Well, first the group of girls I taxied cornered me because I'm a chicken. And then they paid me by buying me that outfit I was wearing when I… When I was shoved against you earlier. And since they pitched in like that, I thought it'd been rude not to help them out. And when we arrived, Yue told me you've been feeling pretty badly, which is the main reason I stayed."

Negi blushes when he remembers the feel of her… self. Chizuru and Ayaka too. "_I shouldn't be thinking that way!_" he panics on the inside.

He changes the subject. "I ended up getting _the talk_ from the girls while I was in the changing room."

"The talk…? Oh! That talk." She laughs. "I'm sorry. I forget that you don't have anyone to turn to… Well, maybe that's not right. I'm sure that Takahata guy would be happy to talk to you. You guys are friends, right?"

"He was a friend of my fathers. He fought alongside my father and a few others during a war in the magic world twenty years ago."

"The magic world… Huh? I wonder if my mother had anything to do there… I often imagine going to distant worlds, but to think such a thing was possible already." She doesn't know how close she is.

Yue and Nodoka shout up at the two to get their attention. Yue squints and sees Reina's arm around Negi and how he's red in the face. Is this part of the friendship thing? If it is, things are still good as far as Nodoka's stance with Negi. If not, she'd better start moving her pieces to deal with the threat.

The winch lowers down and the two girls climb on and press the up button.

First things first. "Are you feeling any better Negi-sensei?" Yue asks the moment she's inside the machine.

"A little. I've been having a talk with Reina-san and I do feel better. I still wish I could patch things up with Asuna so we can put this all behind us."

"Say… Why are you fighting with her to being with? I've never thought to ask."

"Because I went to Library Island with you guys and Kaede-san. Oh! I've have this!" Negi reaches into his coat pocket and pulls out, not a Colt Anaconda, but a few pieces of paper.

Yue takes them and reads through. "Is this the conversation that started everything?"

"Yeah. Chachamaru-san printed this up for me."

Yue looks through it a bit longer before settling on what seems to her to be the most likely source of Asuna's problems. "Ah… I think this here might be the problematic part."

"You're fast!" Negi marvels. "You really do understand a girl's heart!"

Yue briefly wonders why she wouldn't understand a girl's heart before explaining. "Well, just basic logic is all. The way you phrased this here sounds like didn't like her sticking her neck in your business. It seems quite abrasive."

Negi cries out, "That's not what I meant at all!"

"Well, I think that this must be how she heard it, even if you didn't mean it that way."

"Y- Yeah," Reina says. "You are g-g- good at Japanese, b- b- but you're not p- perfect at i-it. S-So… y- y- you may h- ha- have said s- s- something you didn't i- i-intend to. A- All o- o- of th… this could b- be a m- mis- miscomm… mis… a mistake." Damn it, she couldn't even get through 'miscommunication.' It's starting to become a major problem.

"Perhaps that is the key to the whole thing," Yue says. "Anyway, we also have a question for you Negi-sensei… As long as it's okay with you Nodoka." Nodoka nods. "Negi-sensei, would it be possible for you to teach us to become mages? We'll both do our best to study what you teach us."

This shocks the boy. "Become mages?"

"If it's impossible, then we understand. I could see an ordinary person not having any magical capabilities."

"Well, I don't think it's impossible per se, but it's like my situation with Asuna. I can't possibly risk getting you involved and having you in danger with me. As a teacher and mage, I couldn't live with myself if something happened to any of you."

"This is why we both agreed to cast everything aside and be willing to face the dangers of a fantasy world with you. And if you get everyone together, defeating that dragon should be a cinch."

Reina slinks down, facing away from the rest of the three. Lost in her own world and suttering, she states, "I w- wish I c- c- could become a m… mage…" She draws aimlessly with her finger on the floor.

"Err… Reina-san?" Nodoka asks.

"I'm fine…" Reina's voice is a depressing as a winter wind.

Negi speaks for her. "Reina's mother was a magical knight. So she could have used magic, maybe even well, but as she was growing up, as part of the Ivory Knight project, her mother and father made it so the computer parts in her brain also block any magical ability and power from working for her. So no matter what, she can never use magic."

"Oh…" Yue says.

"But that's okay, right kid?" Chamo asks as he hops out of Negi's coat hood. "You got this sweet machine and that more than makes up for it! And your pactio since that's not based on your power!"

"Y- Ye- eah, but w- when we're in l-l- less spac- spacious areas, I'm useless. B- But enough ab- b- b- bout that." The subject is making her feel depressed and she's supposed to be a pillar of support for Negi right now so she doesn't have time to feel down. She finds it possible to stand up and put on a brave façade.

"There was one more thing we wanted to know. Would you make those pactio things with us? We know Reina has one, as well as Kaede, Asuna, and a couple others."

"We don't have nearly enough space for that in here!" Chamo states, his excitement obvious. Negi less so.

* * *

They find an area where there's plenty of room for Chamo to draw a pactio circle or two.

"I hope this is okay with you, because I think it'd be really useful if we were to all have more options at our disposal," Yue says, oblivious to pactio's terms of service.

"Er… Well, You see… I… and then…" Negi flails around. He's a master at it.

"Are you okay? You're turning all red."

Kazumi Asakura climbs up out of a nearby pool, "So what are you four up to?" causing Reina to instinctively back away.

"These two were talking about how they wanted to make pactios with aniki," Chamo answers.

Kazumi gets a sly look on her face. "Hey, yeah. If you do that, a couple of new items will appear. I'd like to get a little cut of the action because you haven't been exactly delivering on our bargain you know." The other two girls who don't possess an artifact look clueless. "I take it you two don't know what's involved in this whole pactio thing, do you?'

Both shake their heads.

"You see, my cute little Yue-chi and Nodoka-san, in order to make a pactio with everyone's favorite shota here, you've gotta kiss him. There's just no other way." Both girls' circulatory systems go into overdrive in order to deal with all the blood rushing to their faces. "So, I hope you're ready."

"GYAAAAAHH! DWAAAAHHH!" Yue painics. Kiss Negi-sensei? But wouldn't that throw everything they've been working for with Nodoka away?

"Was that even Japanese?"

"Hey Negi-sensei!" Konoka calls out from out on the beach, Setsuna in tow as usual. "We have a question for you! Are there any other ways of forming a pactio other than kissing?"

The high number of girls in the area causes Reina's nerves to twinge. Still, act normal. They can sense fear.

"Eh, why this all of the sudden?" Negi asks the gentle brunette.

"Well, I've been putting a lot of thought into training to become a master mage myself, like Eva-san said I could become, and I'd like to have Setsuna be my partner. But she's all squeamish about the idea of girls kissing each other."

"It's… just that I think we should abide by moral standards and…" Setsuna states.

Kazumi chimes in and puts her arm around Setsuna's shoulder. "Listen, in today's modern and more socially relaxed world, a simple kiss really isn't much. Now if you were to say drag her off to your bedroom and," Kazumi whispers something the others can't hear in her ear, "then maybe. But really, a kiss is nothing. Just pretend you're French and meeting her for the first time."

"But the French kiss on the cheeks…" Setsuna points out from a highly confused state.

"Not that kind of French. And if that doesn't work, there's always the internet."

Setsuna's face can barely take it anymore.

Chamo assesses the group of girls who've gathered and become Negi's squad. "All of these girls will be quite useful in combat. Lesse, if we have two mages who are successful in their training, we'll have synergy, medical, and ravaging… Asakura can be our intelligence agent… However, even with Master Ku, we're lacking in sentinel, commando, and saboteurs. So we're a little out of balance right now."

Negi flusters, "You can't decide these things yourself! And where did you get that scroll?" He sees Asuna listed on the scroll. "AH! I totally forgot about her!"

"You still haven't straightened things out yet?"

* * *

Negi walks along the boardwalks of the houses on the water. The setting sun throws hues of red, blue, and orange across the sky in perfect proportions. The view and the quiet sound of the ocean below give him reason to hope that this time he'll be successful in apologizing. A flock of seagulls squawk as they fly around high in the air, looking for a place to land for the night.

"Room 304… 304…" He finds the house in question and walks up to the door. As he is about to knock, Ayaka opens the door. "Oh! Iincho-san."

"Ah, Negi-sensei… I'm sorry, but Asuna-san doesn't want to speak to anyone right now."

Negi slouches down. His grey cloud returns to darken the horizon, so much for all the lovely scenery. "Oh… Okay then."

"But I can talk to her," Ayaka offers. "I consider it my fault things didn't work out earlier so please let me be the one to convince Asuna directly. So please, stop worrying, head back to your room and rest a while."

Negi begins tearing up. "Thank you very much Iincho-san."

"H- Hey now. Don't cry okay?" She pulls him close and hugs him. "This time you can trust me."

Back inside the room, Asuna is taking her outfit off in order to clean away the saltwater. "So why are you in my room anyway?" she asks tartly.

And their fighting begins again. "Hey, I control all the rooms here so I can be here if I want, you monkey."

"What did you call me you spoiled brat?"

"I called you a monkey, monkey!"

"And just what is that supposed to mean?"

The blonde explains clearly, her blood on a slow simmer. "It means you suck! You idiot! Now stop being such a stubborn monkey and make up with Negi-sensei already!"

"It's stubborn mule! And you don't even know the circumstances of why we're fighting anyway! He said something incredibly mean to me."

"Would you grow up already? You're fighting with a ten-year-old kid! Of course I should have expected this from a girl who apparently hasn't reached puberty! At this rate, Negi-sensei will be an adult before you." She slams her hands down on the bed.

The battle lines are drawn. "OH THAT DID IT! I'M GONNA KILL YOU!"

"Have you not realized he's ten?" Ayaka exhales. "You've changed a lot since the first time we met. About the only thing that hasn't changed has been your stubborn attitude. Even if you forgave him a long time ago, you're still carrying on with this. At times I wonder how a mute, anti-social, little moppet with such a bored look on her face became such a violent monkey."

Asuna clocks her friend over the head. "It's because of my constant fighting with you!" She shoves the heiress out of the door of the bathroom and starts her shower.

"What? Are you just going to run away?" Ayaka yells from the other side of the bathroom door. "The poor kid was in tears. He's going to die before the age of twenty because of an ulcer at this rate! Asuna are you even listening?"

"_I understand already… Stupid Ayaka,_" Asuna thinks to herself.

* * *

Early the next morning, Negi sleeps quietly in his room, or rather he attempts to. Such a large empty room is disquieting to him. He rolls around under the blankets and simply can't sleep. He feels like he's on the verge of collapse. Things just seem to be getting worse and worse with no real way to fix them. Perhaps Reina was right. Take things slowly and let Asuna cool down.

His nerves however simply will not allow sleep to come to him now. "I can't sleep like this. It's too empty in here."

"Heh, you really are a kid, aniki."

Deafening silence fills the room again as Negi closes his eyes. Not much later, a knock comes from the patio door. Negi rubs his eyes as he awakens. He grabs his glasses and puts them on, allowing his visitor to come into focus.

"A- Asuna-san?" She motions for him to come outside. When he does, she hands him his swimming trunks. "Why are…?" She points at them. He goes back in and puts them on. When he comes back, she grabs him by the hand.

"Wait, Asuna-san, what are… Oh I never noticed you could get to sea from up here. Did you happen to come up this way?"

She says nothing as she picks him up and tosses in to the water below. Once again, his mastery at flailing around proves that practice makes perfect.

Asuna laughs at him. "That face of yours is priceless! I wish I had a camera!" She leaps down and knocks him back into the water with a kick. She laughs at him again.

"Asuna-san, why? That was really mean."

"It's to make up for what you did to me. And I realized that I hadn't played with you yet even though we came all the way to this resort." She goes walking purposely over to Negi.

Her recent disposition towards him makes him flinch, expecting to be hit again. Instead, he receives a hug. "Asuna-san?"

"I'm sorry."

"What?" Asuna increases the pressure of the hug. Negi submits to the sound of something popping. "I submit, I submit!"

"I'm sorry for ignoring you as long as I did and I'm apologizing." Asuna caresses the back of his head.

"I was at fault too. I said you weren't involved in this and I didn't mean that."

"Don't worry about that anymore. Also it's not just that, but… I worry about you, you know. I'd keep thinking 'maybe he'll get hurt when I'm not looking' or 'If I don't keep an eye on him, he could die' because you've been incredibly reckless in your pursuit of your father. And since I don't think you'll give it up, let me protect you. I want you to see me as a proper partner. Okay Negi?"

"Asuna-san…"

"Okay?"

Negi flushes brighter than the dawn sun. "I'm happy you feel that way, but as a proper partner… It's all very sudden and I'm only ten so there's going to be a lot of problems with that. I don't want to see you hauled off to jail or anything on my account."

Asuna becomes as red as him. "I didn't mean it like that idiot! I was saying I don't want to continue worrying about you and your recklessness."

"If Nekane were to hear about this she'd probably faint."

"Why aren't you listening to me? That's not how I meant things!"

Chamo looks on from his spot on the railing around the villa with a smile on his ermine face. "So it seems that everything was fine all along. Ah well. Seems Ane-san just so… Well, she'd probably turn me into ear muffs for thinking it." A low chuckle escapes his lips.

* * *

The check-out time comes, and everyone is just as rowdy as when they arrived.

"We'll have to do this again sometime, Iincho-san," Kazumi tells Ayaka.

Chizuru adds, "Hopefully when Asuna and Negi aren't fighting with each other for most of it."

"I'll think about it." Personally Ayaka doesn't think they'll ever come back again, and if they do, she'll only ask Negi and not blab about it to anyone else. Lesson definitely learned.

"So who's going with who? Ayaka's plane or Reina's mech?" Yuna asks everyone assembled.

"I want to ride in the mech!" Makie's excitement knowing no bounds.

Madoka states, "Well you'll have to ask Reina-san I suppose. We made her come along to begin with."

"Made?" asks Ayaka. For all she knew, Reina came and dragged the others along with her.

"Yeah, we kind of forced her into it. So I hope you weren't mad at her for it."

"I'm over it. Besides, I heard Asuna and Negi are friends again so I suppose everything worked out in the end. And if it took booking an island resort, I guess it was worth it to see him happy again."

Makie chirps, "Really? That's good. Now maybe he won't be a sad little lump like he's been the last half week."

"It's been a pretty active vacation when you think about it. Negi and Asuna, the sharks… I think I'll be taking a vacation from this vacation," Misa says to Madoka as they walk past.

Negi stands around, pondering which way to travel as most of the girls pile into Ayaka's plane.

Chamo reminds him, "You know aniki, you never did make pactios with Yue and Nodoka."

"Well, I'm certainly not going to do that while everyone is standing around," Negi whispers since he doesn't want anyone thinking he's nuts.

The Ivory Knight walks up to the beach where the plane sits and the hatch door opens up. "So who's coming with me? Remember that I do have a limited amount of space in here. Comfortably, I'm able to hold eight, I think. I don't know because it's usually just me in here." She kneels down and put her hands palm-up on the ground. "Anyone wanting to take the express shuttle, come with me. We'll be home much quicker so if there's anything pressing you need to do before school tomorrow, come with me."

"Hey!" calls out Sakurako, "Use your big boosters. We really need to get going!" A few of the girls decide to jump at the opportunity, and climb into her hands. A couple of them cheer her on.

"If I do that, I might make everyone pass out unless properly equipped, I've never checked how many oxygen masks I have." She stands up and tells everyone, "Negi-sensei, everyone, catch you back at Mahora. Ayaka-san, thanks for the vacation. Perhaps I can pay you back some day."

Ayaka waves her off without a word with a look on her face that says "You're welcome."

"You want me to come along?" Negi asks the mech.

"No. I… need this. I need to take active step towards my problems and you've taught me that. Someday, I don't want to have that issue."

"Good luck, Reina-san."

"Thank you, Negi-sensei."

All in all, it's been a good vacation.

**Negima: Femella Intra Machina Chapter 13: End**

**The End of the Chapter Stuff: **It seems the long delay didn't do this story any good. I'm going to try my best and restore this fic to its former glory. Being left to molder for as long as it has left it in bad shape. Let's see if I can do just as I hope.

This chapter was written in about less than ten days thanks to "Alexandrite," which is Makoto Nanaya's theme from BlazBlue: Continuum Shift. I don't know what it is about that song, but it makes me feel a lot more productive.

**Thanks this Chapter:** The Ansem Man for proofing. Daisuke Ishiwatari for "Alexandrite."

**And as always, thanks for reading you guys!**


	14. Fight Club

**Authors Notes:** _**Welcome to Femella Intra Machina's Third Birthday!**_ While this might seem like a happy celebration, insofar that something like this can have one, it's also a bit of a sad note for me. I should be so much farther along than I am now. I am a chapter ahead though, two if you count the ending which is done. What didn't help me this time was that Pokemon Black and White came out. So I've spent an irresponsible amount of time with them. (This chapter was done before they came out, but they're like crack.)

Also, I've come to realize, I'm going to have to play for time now as something big is going to happen during the upcoming Mahorafest. And there's still a lot that I need to accomplish and not a lot of space in which to do it. So I can't waste a single second.

And if you're feeling generous enough to leave FIM a birthday review, know that I appreciate it.

**Negima: Femella Intra Machina**

**Dark Dragon Dave**

**Chapter 14: Fight Club**

"Are all the preparations complete?" asks an older man in a hat and black coat.

The figure next to him nods. It too is wearing a wide brim hat and coat, but it has its own reasons. Its hands rest comfortably in the coat's pockets. "Yes, the slimes are in place and this thunderstorm should help move events along easily. Figuring the average rainfall at one centimeter per—

"I'll take you word for it," the old man says as he cuts the math short. "Heard there's a girl here you might find interesting. I don't really follow these things, but apparently she's both human and robot."

"I have also heard of her. This should be interesting when our paths cross."

"When?"

"Yes. I've been ordered to neutralize her because if she were to arrive during the coming events, there would be nothing left of you."

The older man doesn't know how to take it. To think his abilities cannot be trusted. But at the same time, this whole high technology thing doesn't sit well with him. Just seems like a flash in the pan to the power of magic.

"Remember," says his companion, "just as there is a world of magic where it reigns, so too is there a world where technology reigns. Two kingdoms that are essentially the same. However, only the super rich here can afford the good tech while any lowly fool can learn magic."

"Hey! Watch your tongue!"

"I am just stating. Technology can send messages across the world, into space, view the heavens, the Earth, produce great works of art, change or steal the identity of people, and make golems… just like magic. Remember, you're a visitor here."

The old man hates it when his associate is right. Now is one of those times. "A little humility is all I ask. I am your superior after all."

"As far as chain of command, I will not debate that. I am just offering advice that technology is the same and yet different than magic. So don't be so assured. Be aware."

"I'm well aware. But you too need to be aware as this school has a high magical presence."

"I'm always aware."

There are many things that can't be easily communicated between two people when they come from completely different worlds and this is one of them. Both have their pride, but begrudgingly respect each other. As they survey, they both notice two girls carrying a dog into one of the buildings.

He begins heading towards the building as he knows that's the wolf boy. His associate bars his path with her arm. "Unfortunately, the slimes have yet to work their magic. We'll need to wait for a little while yet."

"But the bottle…"

"Cannot be used without a target. If we do not show ourselves, then he will not have an opportunity to utilize it. Give it time."

"Seven minutes. Seven minutes is all I'll wait."

* * *

Reina sits in the warm water with the other girls. Amazingly, this time is her discretion, thinking the best way to deal with a fear is to face it head on. It'd be a far stretch, and a pun, to say it was going swimmingly. While resisting the urge to get out of there, she ponders if this is all really worth it. She paces her breathing to help her focus.

In… Out… In… Out… In—

"Are you okay Reina-san?"

"DAH! Ah… Oh, Misa-san… Yeah. I am good." She speaks slowly to focus herself.

"Are you sure? You look awful."

"I- I am f- fine." Damn. She's slipping. _Fear is the mind killer_…_ Fear is the mind killer_… Maybe someday it'll help.

"Take it easy on her Misa," Yuna tells her. "Chizuru-san told me she figured out Reina-san's secret."

Reina's eyes bulge as she suddenly displays a 'deer in the headlights' look. "Err… W-W- What did sh- she find out?"

Yuna moves closer. "It's okay if you feel that way. No one will think differently of you for it."

"A- A- Are w- we t- t- talking ab- out the s- same th- th- th- thing?"

"If it's about your secret when it comes to girls, yes."

Oh you have got to be kidding. If she can muster the courage later, she will strangle Asuna. "Oh… I… See…" Now she's going to be the laughing stock of Mahora. "T- Time to g- g- go b- back home in sh- sh- shame."

"What are you talking about?" Yuna asks her white-haired friend.

"N- Now th- that ev- ev- ev… people have f- f- fig- figured it out, I c- can't ex- ex- ex… Exactly live h- here b- because of th… that."

"Oh it's not so bad. Look at Konoka and Setsuna."

This puzzles Reina. "Wh- What?" She stutters out of confusion this time.

"She explained it to me. You've been doing a lot of running away, stuttering, the really short haircut, and those cargo pants. She also caught wind of that thing you did with Ayaka."

"Don't leave us all in the dark," Madoka tells her.

Yuna trumpets, "See, our dear friend here likes girls, you know _that_ way."

Good thing Reina hadn't eaten masonry for lunch because she would be voiding her bowels of it otherwise. "Y- You have g- gotten it c- c- com- com… entirely wrong."

Yuna hugs her, which sends the kind of fear in Reina one would usually save for horror movie villains, the good ones anyway. "You don't have to be ashamed."

"_I must not fear. __Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain,_" Reina thinks to herself. "_WHY DOESN'T THIS WORK?_"

She paces her breathing again and really focuses. "I think you have it all wrong." Holy crap! Was that an entire sentence in a combat situation? Unpossible.

Misa supports the pilot too. "Seriously though, it's nothing to be ashamed of."

Focus and try and get through it are Reina's thoughts. It's marginally harder though, what with Yuna rubbing up against her previously. "I am not interested in girls." Quite the opposite in fact, Reina forgets to add.

"Well… It does seem to add up though," Madoka says.

Reina closes her eyes to try and focus as she's been making good progress so far in this firefight and she doesn't want to lose any ground. Even if these girls seem to jump to conclusions a lot. "Li- Listen. I have… P- Perfectly good… Reasons why… I… Have s- short hair… Cargo pants… And… The other… Stuff that's happened." Her method is working but it's an incredible strain mentally. And the generalizations they are making are completely idiotic.

"No need to cover yourself."

Reina formulates a plan. Breathing evenly, she asks, "What about those times I k- k- k…" Just one hurdle to clear here… But damn is it huge. "Kissed Negi-sensei?" She feels like her heart is about to explode.

Yuna holds up a finger like she's discovered a cure for the common cold. "You play both offense and defense then!"

Reina facepalms at the sheer stupidity of it all. Maybe there really isn't anything to fear here other than the total lack of wisdom. Perhaps bending the truth will work… "I d- don't like girls. I- In fact, they creep m- m- m- me out. Y- You're all i- insane." Not the exact truth, but it'll do. "F- For one, y- y- you only s- seem to listen to the v- voices in y- y- your head."

"Well, should you change your mind, feel free to talk about it."

"_What the hell? This place is like the world's worst support clinic_," Reina thinks to herself as she tries slinking off by herself.

"Don't go too far now, I have a special surprise for everyone," Yuna declares. "Ako-san, I know you you've been mentioning that your upper arms have been a little flabby recently, and it so happens I have this." Yuna doesn't have a Colt Anaconda either; instead she has the new gel—

"Nuru Nuru X!" the Narutaki twins exclaim, a slight hint of amazement in their voices.

"Yes! My usual double bottle order was quadruple booked so I have plenty to spare for all of you. All you'll have to do is rub its smooth as silk like gel across wherever you want to improve your skin's tone, color, or texture. Truly a three-in-one miracle cream!"

Reina and Chisame share similar thoughts on that. Both figure it adds up to a list of lies.

After a few moments more of hearing Yuna extolling its virtues and watching the others spread that slop on themselves, Chisame feels the water change. "Hey? You didn't dump any of that stuff in the water, did you?"

"Not yet, no. Why?"

Chisame complains, "Well, the water's getting all slimy and WHOA HEY THERE!" She feels something go where it shouldn't.

"What the hell?" Yuna asks as Chisame and her bathing partners seem like they've all started hallucinating.

"OH GOD IT'S ALL SLIMEY. GR-R-R-OSS! MAKE IT STOP PLEASE!" Makie cries.

As quickly as it started, it's over. Some of the girls get out of the water to play it safe. A few, namely Ku Fei, Asakura, Yue, and Nodoka, chose to stay in, and are assaulted in the same manner. When they are dragged down beneath the surface of the water, they can see the figures of a few small girls.

"What about the white haired one?" asks one of the slime girls.

"She's to be left to Josephine. So for now, we'll get to have fun with these four targets."

A giggle is all that remains once they disappear from the water, taking the four solids with them.

* * *

The old man and his compatriot both head in the direction of the same building. As they approach the building, someone decides to stop the two mysterious visitors.

"Hey, only students allowed in this building."

The mysterious stranger raises its wide brim hat to show its face. "I am a student." The face beneath is decidedly feminine, bordered nicely by brown hair that's slightly longer than shoulder length. Her eyes are an interesting red color. "And this here is my poor grandfather. He has come such a long way to see his precious granddaughter and I have been giving him the grand tour." The sweetness in her voice is enough to give everyone diabetes.

"Err… Well, then I guess you can go in. If only to get out of the rain." The man who stopped them, a mage with the school, leaves to go take an insulin shot.

Once the guy is out of earshot, the old man comments, "That was sickening."

Her tone switches back to a dull drone. "It got us through and that is all that matters."

The older man sighs and simply heads in behind the girl.

* * *

The girl in the black coat moves up to the door of the room she was told Reina lives in. She gives a couple of knocks and waits for the door to open. As she waits, a couple of other girls walk by and comment about her once they think she can no longer hear them. After precisely one minute without an answer, the girl decides to resort to other methods.

She closes her eyes as if she is focusing and then turns back to the door after a few seconds. "I know you are in there…" Still nothing as far as a response. "Perhaps you left your phone in there." Just as she is about to give up, Reina and another girl come around a corner and head towards their room. "Target confirmed. Continuing mission." She moves away from the door to avoid suspicion.

Chisame muses, somewhat to herself, "That was still weird what was going on in there."

"Y- Yeah. I'm g- gonna go see N- Negi-sensei after I d- d- drop my stuff o- off." Despite spending so much time in company with one another, Chisame still gives her the heebie-jeebies, though not as much as when she first arrived.

Chisame smirks. "You two have become fast friends, haven't you?"

"I… Well…" She's not stuttering so much as trying to sort out something to react with.

"Heh. I can take that stuff in if you want to head there right away."

"It's f- fine. I need t- to gr- gr… grab my phone."

After they enter, Chisame closes the door and catches a glimpse of someone strange hanging around outside in the hallway. "Reina-san, did you happen to see the person in the black coat and hat out in the hallway?"

"N- No? Why?"

"Eh, I'm probably just being paranoid." She walks over to her computer and fires it up. "Have fun."

"I'll t- t- try." Once she gets back out in the hallway, she can see the person. She fakes forgetting something and heads back in.

"That was quick," Chisame remarks as she checks what kind of messages people have left her about the latest photo set. She had tried using Reina's sword she dragged to their room, but she wasn't able to lift it.

"I'm ta- taking my s- sword. Something a… bout them d- doesn't sit r- right with me." She picks it up from where it leans against the wall.

"How you're able to lift that, I'll never know."

"I- It's all in the wr- wr- wrists." Once she's at the door, she mentions, "Its m- mercur- rial so wield- ding it is d- difficult." With that, she's out the door again.

Chisame mutters to herself, "I was thinking more like it weighs a ton."

Reina walks down the hallway, massive blade in hand. She soon senses someone behind her. "Don't think I don't know you're there." She quickly turns around and thrusts the sword forward and past Negi's head. "Oh crap!" She lowers it as quickly as she aimed it.

Negi opens one worried eye, betting on having the left side of his head shorn clean. "I didn't mean to sneak up on you."

"And I didn't mean to almost take your head off. I saw someone sneaky looking hanging around in the hallway earlier. Something is up."

"You felt that too?"

"Well, my first big clue was the bath. Some of the girls went missing."

"Missing?"

"Yeah. Something funky went on with the water and then Ku Fei, Yue, Nodoka, and Kazumi disappeared."

"I don't like the sound of that."

The next sound he hears does not exactly fill him with ease either, as it makes its way down from Ayaka, Chizuru, and Natsumi's room. Negi goes charging full force into the room when he realizes the door is off its hinges. He stops at the fallen Ayaka, checking to see what happened.

"Someone's put her to sleep," Chamo tells him.

Before Reina can catch up, a hand on her shoulder spins her around. Another one comes out of thin air and slams into her stomach, followed by a sharp electrical shock. Reina's brain, being what it is, isn't able to handle that causing her to black out. Before she fades, she sees the fists quickly pass back into invisibility.

Back in the room, Negi comes face-to-face with an older man holding a limp Chizuru in his arms. "Ah… You could have been faster boy, but a good showing nonetheless."

With a powerful roar, Negi confronts the old man. "WHO ARE YOU AND WHAT ARE YOU DOING WITH CHIZURU-SAN?"

"Ah… Got some fire in that blood of yours I see. Good good."

"Put Chizuru-san down and leave her alone!" demands the small boy.

The old man gives him an ultimatum. "Heh. If you want all your cute little pactio partners back, and this beauty, you'll have to fight me. Out in the main walkway under the giant tree that sits in the middle of this campus. If you care for their lives, I suggest you don't get any support."

Twin spirals of water rise up from the floor and draw him down into puddle on the floor.

"Reina-san, I—!" He turns to see that she apparently didn't follow him in. It suddenly connects in his head. The old man mentioned his pactio partners and she had mentioned someone hanging around in the hallway. "Damn it," he mutters.

"Ne- Ne- Negi-sensei, what's going on?" asks Natsumi from her spot near the table.

"Natsumi-san? I was going to ask the same thing."

"Hey aniki, over there!" Chamo cries out suddenly.

Negi turns to where Chamo points to see a familiar boy. "Kotaro? Hey! Are you okay?"

The wolf boy begins to stir. He can hear a familiar voice as he blinks his eyes open. "AH HA! NEGI!"

"Kotaro."

"Everything's a bit foggy but I'm starting remember. That's right! I'm here to settle things with you! Let's fight it out right now!"

"Now's really not the time!" Negi informs him.

After a brief breather and some recuperating, the wolf kid's mind starts to clear. "My memories must have been erased. I hate that, it's so clichéd. Like a bad daytime drama. And now he's nabbed Chizuru-neechan too? What a dirtbag!"

"He told me he's got my friends too. And with Reina's disappearance, I'm inclined to believe it."

Kotaro stands in an angry amazement. "Yue and Nodoka I could understand, but Asuna and the swordsgirl? And how do you abduct a girl in a giant robot?"

"She wasn't actually in it a moment ago."

Kotaro looks slightly relieved. "Well, this should all be over in a minute then. So how about that rematch?"

"I wouldn't be so sure," Negi admonishes. "If they nabbed her, I'm sure they've done a bit of plotting for this all to come together. We need to go do something about this."

"Heh, I have just the thing for this." Kotaro reaches into the hair behind his head and pulls from it a small bottle. "This here little thing. I snagged it from the ol' pervert before I came here. Heck, it's the reason he was hunting me. I'll let ya have it. All ya gotta do is chant the command word and '_schlorp_' it sucks 'em all up and seals 'em away."

"I can really have it? Thank you very much."

"I'll even help ya out. It's my fault Chizuru-neesan has gotten wrapped up in this."

Negi sees the fault in this. "But you just got beaten up by him and your injuries are pretty great."

"Hey, that's because he caught me off-guard! Besides, at this point, there's no stopping me. You'll just have to think of this as a tag-team."

"Okay then, our match will have to be later." Negi and Kotaro brofist. "Natsumi-san, look after Iincho and don't worry. This will be over soon." Both Kotaro and he go running out of the room.

"Uh, stay safe you guys…" Natsumi says as they run off, unable to comprehend anything they said in their conversation.

* * *

Asuna wakes up and finds herself in a very strange position. Her arms are secured above her head in a "Y" shape by what looks like tentacles. "Where am I? Wait, doesn't this stage belong to the university?"

"Oh, hello there," greets the same old man that took Chizuru.

"And just who the hell are you?" Asuna asks.

With a smile, he offers, "Why I am none other than Graf Wilhelm Josef von Herrman."

"WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED TO MY CLOTHES?" Asuna shouts as she notices she's in some rather sexy lingerie.

"Oh, well I was thinking that the whole 'captured princess' routine doesn't work quite right when the princess is in her jam-jams."

"YOU DIRTY PERVERTED OLD FART!" She swings herself around and kicks him in the face.

"You prove the old adage well. A firey red-head," Wilhelm muses.

Asuna points out, "You've got blood running from your nose you jerkass."

"I wonder of all of his friends are just as spirited as you…"

"Friends?" the scantily clad Asuna asks rhetorically as she looks back behind herself. There she finds seven of her classmates… no eight. Kazumi, Ku Fei, Yue, Nodoka, and Konoka in one bubble. Chizuru and Setsuna are in their own separate bubbles. Reina is face down on the stage floor.

"Why is she not trapped?" Asuna asks.

"She is my business," comes another voice, a feminine voice. Asuna looks around and is unable to find anyone it might belong to.

Bolts of energy arc across something she cannot see. As the arcs continue, someone dressed like Wilhelm suddenly becomes visible. With a swift move, they toss the coat and hat to the side to reveal a brunette girl wearing a purple sports bra, really short sport shorts, and—

"Leg guards and weird gloves…"

"They are Mixed Martial Arts gloves."

When this new person mentioned that, Asuna notices her hands and elbows have strange joints. "You're a robot?"

"Yes. My name is Joesphine. And unlike your other robot friend, I am pure science. Not some magi-tec hodge podge."

"Great, more robots."

"I am none of your concern."

Asuna takes that at face value. "So you dirty freaking pervert, why are those girls there naked?"

"These slime girls got us while we were in the bath."

Wilhelm continues. "They also nabbed that demon slayer friend of yours. I had to put her to sleep because she's too dangerous for her own good really. And the other one, well, she was a bonus."

"And the creepy little slime girls?"

"We're the ones making the barrier. I'm Ameko," introduces the rightmost slime girl, "and this is Surumui and Purin."

"Did I ask for names?" snaps Asuna.

"I'd be a little more courteous with us if we were you. You see, these barriers are inescapable unless you're in the inside. But none of your silly little friends have enough power to overload the barrier."

"Hush now you three," Wilhelm admonishes, "we don't want to give them any ideas."

Asuna catches on to that and gives a sideways glance to Konoka. Konoka acknowledges it and subtly nods.

"And what was that eh?" the older man asks Asuna.

Josephine explains. "Asuna looked towards Konoka when the slimes mentioned the barrier. And Konoka nodded her head by two degrees."

"It doesn't matter. There's none among you who is powerful enough. Josephine, if you wouldn't mind handing out a minor punishment."

"Yes." Josephine walks up to the restrained red-head and begins reaching out to Asuna. Asuna isn't having any part of that and attempts to kick her too, but her attack is easily twisted into a self harming move as Asuna's torso doesn't want to rotate that far around since her arms are still being held up.

"Ah!" Asuna complains. She issues a loud "Ouch!" when Josephine touches her. A powerful electric charge, like that from a strong cattle prod, emanates from the fighters hand.

After she recovers, Asuna asks. "So what are you doing here anyway? Seems kind of stupid for someone to invade a school full of mages."

"Oh you see, both you and Negi are vital to our mission of investigating the Academy here. But really, I have a deeper and more personal connection with him."

Asuna asks, "What do you mean?"

"Well, I'd answer that, but it seems he's arrived."

Josephine walks over to the downed Reina and picks her up. "Time to wake up." A small shock rushes through Reina, just enough to make her startle. Before she can say anything, she is dumped on the floor. "Pick up your sword and fight me."

As a brilliant bolt of energy shoots towards Wilhelm, he simply holds out a hand and the bolt disappears before it can connect. "Superb!" Wilhelm comments.

Before the attack happens, the necklace around Asuna shines and makes her cringe. "Hey, what the hell?"

"Seems he's got some sort of magical barrier up," Negi informs Kotaro as they land. "Okay! We're here! You can let them go now!" Negi shouts from his position over by the steps.

"NEGI!" Asuna yells.

"Asuna! Why are wearing that?"

"The old man is a pervert! He's even taken to abducting girls while they're naked." She motions over to where Kazumi and the others are.

"I'm going to get you all out of this," he tells them. He notices Reina standing up and holding her sword. "Reina?"

"Hey Negi," she greets like this stuff happens every day. She reaches for her phone but soon finds it is not in her pocket.

"Looking for this?" Josephine asks as she holds up exactly what the mech pilot was looking for. "Not this time." She opens the phone up and breaks it in two with one hand. The two parts are soon separated by some distances as she tosses both pieces to opposite ends of the stage. "NOW FIGHT ME!"

Reina does not know what she is doing, but raises her sword anyway. "Guess it's too late to whine about never training." Suddenly, she can feel it have weight, like gravity decided to recognize it. Within moments, its weight settles on something pleasurable. "Okay, what's with this thing?"

Before the two girls get ready to have at it, Negi asks, "So who are you and why are you here?"

"Firstly, I apologize for my methods, but knowing you, without these lovely hostages, you wouldn't come at me full strength. I do not intend to do them any harm, and when it comes to your cute mech pilot there, she was a special request. Josephine!" The robot looks back at Wilhelm. "Here's the final part of the request," He holds up Reina's original pactio, the one made with Fate back in Kyoto.

He throws it at his robotic companion and she catches it. "Children and their cards games… It's a good thing you're not allowed to ride motorcycles. Make sure she uses it."

"How did you get that?" Reina asks.

"It was pretty easy," Purin states, "when the only defense is a simple lockbox."

"Damn it, Chamo!" Reina scolds.

"How was I supposed to know?" Chamo whines.

"Eh, nothing you can do about it now." Reina decides to be defensive. She holds her sword out in a manner she thinks will block the best.

Wilhelm lays out his conditions. "See, it's your power that interests me, kid. If you can defeat me, then I will return all the girls."

"Is that all? This'll be easy then!" Kotaro exclaims.

Negi gets a worried look on his face, the kind that says this is his entire fault. "Well then, Kotaro-kun, stand back. I'll be the lead."

This sets the wolf boy off. "What? No way. You couldn't possibly face him you couldn't have gotten all that much stronger since the last time we met."

"You'd be surprised!"

"I'm going to go first because I've fought him before."

The continue squabbling for a while before Asuna yells at them. "Hey! Pay attention you two!"

Before they knew it, the slime sisters were wrapping them up and slamming them down the rows of seats in the amphitheater.

"Who are these freaks?" Kotaro asks.

"I don't know."

"Well, I guess we've got no choice."

"I thought you couldn't hit girls?" Negi asks.

Kotaro answers. "Yeah, real girls. Slime mutants I got no problems with."

"We aren't mutants, you jerks," Ameko states.

* * *

Josephine rushes towards Reina and her poor defense. She twists herself around into a roundhouse. Reina reacts by moving the sword around to where the kick is coming from. Josephine allows the first kick to land on the sword and uses that to brace for the second. She jumps up slightly to swing around her other leg, the impact of which is not something Reina is prepared for. She gets knocked to the side as her foe lands on her feet.

"I'm well versed in all forms of stand-up, clinch, and ground style fighting disciplines."

Ku Fei gets an idea. "Reina-san! I tell you what girl is doing!"

"O- Okay!" Reina accepts her help and stands up, her usual fear and anxiety replaced with concern.

Josephine arches her body, making Ku Fei explain, "Block front." Reina does as she's told and does block and incoming kick. The momentum however, forces Reina to take a step back lest she topple over.

"If only I knew how to attack with this thing…" Reina says.

"Block right!" Ku Fei advises. Reina follows orders and avoids another kick, though she still ends up having to rebalance herself.

"The force of her kicks is too much!"

"Try using it like you would the sword on your mech!" Kazumi suggests.

Josephine closes in a bit more and ends up knocking Reina down with a feint, followed by a kick to her ankle. "Pathetic." She climbs on top of the pilot and holds her down with her left arm braced against her chest. She rears back an elbow and says, "Good night."

Reina gets her arms around her head before Josephine's elbow can strike her in the temple. The attack still hurts like hell, but she didn't get hit in the head and that's the important thing. She presses up against the fighter and tries budging her. It's a no go as she grunts under Josephine's weight.

"I guess I should start working out too."

Josephine wraps her arms around Reina's and begins head butting her. The white haired girl tries her best to suffer through it. When it looks like Reina's blinked out again, Josephine gets up off of her. "She is worthless outside of that machine of hers."

As she begins walking away, Reina slightly opens a single eye and stands up as quietly as she can. As she gets closer, she rears back and swings low. Josephine jumps in time, avoiding the sword cutting her down like an old tree. Reina can feel the weight of the sword shift from the mercury inside as she brings it around to perform a downward swing, almost losing her footing because of the sword's nature. The combat robot dodges to the side effortlessly, but when the sword hits the stage floor…

The sword impacts with the floor and cuts through it easily. A shockwave ripples out from where it hits, making Josephine take a split second to balance against it.

"Sneaky sneaky. Not too bad for someone who does not know what they are doing. It seems that sword of yours is something to be worried about at least. When I am done seeing what you can do with that sword, you will have to switch over to your little pactio thing and show me what that can do." Josephine shifts her weight and superkicks Reina.

The pilot falls down. The world around her is spinning and her jaw hurts. Seriously, hanging out with Negi is starting to seem like one long ass kicking. Trying to not fall over, Reina stands up, using the sword to keep balance. Her head wasn't meant to take this level of damage.

Josephine dashes over to her side. "Move to left!" Ku Fei calls out. Reina quickly stumbles over to her left and avoids being tripped up.

"Will you shut up? This fight is between me and her."

"It not fair. No good martial artist would attack one who no fight."

"It's fine Ku Fei-san," Reina says. "I've got to learn how to use this sword some time I suppose. Nothing quite like a trial-by-fire."

Nodoka speaks up. "You said it was mercurial, right? Those kinds of swords were hard to use because of the shifting weight."

"Just gotta make stuff up as I go then." Reina thrusts forward, the flat end of the sword like a guillotine flying free through the air.

Josephine halts it with both of her hands, grunting as the force behind the weapon is increased by its liquid core. Reina swings the sword around to her side and quickly loops it back around and cuts upward with it. Josephine backs up and to her right. Reina quickly changes hands with it and increases her swinging speed. When Josephine dodges, she can feel the force of the attack despite not being hit by it.

Reina again switches hands again, being right-handed. The momentum of the sword is hard to handle, forcing Reina to keep a firm grip. Unfortunately, she's out of ideas as far as swings go and the momentum makes her stumble. That leaves an opening for her assailant.

Josephine clutches her and takes her down to the ground again, leaving Reina only able to block her attacks. Elbow after elbow crashes down on Reina in the fighter's brutal assault. The pilot struggles as hard as she can and manages to wriggle out from underneath her by sliding between her legs. It is not glamorous but it works.

Reina picks up her sword and readies an attack, but by that time, Josephine is already up off the floor. She steps back to avoid getting axe kicked, and the kick ends up slamming a small hole in the floor. Josephine uses this as leverage, spinning it into an even more powerful reverse side kick. When Reina backs up again, Josephine moves the foot she has stuck in the floor around. She gets a piece of debris on top of her foot and, using her powerful kicks, fires it off towards Reina.

Reina doesn't see it coming and it bounces off her head, opening a wound along her hairline. The colors of red and white blend well despite the source of the red.

"Why do you not use your pactios? That sword of yours obviously is not working out."

Reina answers her. "I'm not the kind of person who relies on other people. I don't use the one I have with Negi because I feel like I'm relying on him. He's a ten-year old and there's no reason I should have to do that. And the other one was a complete mistake. I don't like it and I'm never going to use it."

"I am not giving you too many options. Either use them or I will get involved in your boyfriend's fight over there and—

"He's not my boyfriend. Sure yeah, he's a cute kid, but that's as far as it goes," Reina interjects. She runs at Josephine with the sword angled down and behind her. She remembers seeing a movie once where the guy held it like that.

She swings it forward and up, the mercury doing its job of providing more power to the swing. Reina twists it, and brings it around again, and instead of attacking Josephine, she strikes the barrier the other girls are in. The barrier ripples a bit but nothing other than the sword bouncing off happens.

"Your opponent is me, not those barriers," the fighter comments.

As she rushes in, Reina attacks the barrier again, and this time uses the bounce back from it as momentum for an attack. This takes Josephine by surprise and forces her to block the attack. Her forearms serve as a cradle for the heavy blade. She shifts it away from herself and lets it slam into the floor. Reina quickly pulls the blade out, just in time to see Josephine blink out of existence for a second.

Suddenly, she feels a slam in her gut and drops to her knees. Josephine instantly moves into a different position, like a huge gap between two frames of animation. "Metamaterials. Research them sometime. Such interesting things.

"If I were you, I would bring out your shield. It would at least help against things like what I just did to you. I know you brought it out in that fight with the InfinIT mech. Back then it was an energy bubble, was it not? Just bite the bullet and realize you have got to do something. If this keeps going, your head is going—

"Shut up, damn it!" Reina commands, blood running down her face in a trickle.

Josephine dashes in, begins volleying a few punches towards Reina's face. Instinctively, Reina holds the sword up to block. One of the shockwaves from her punches sends a drop of blood hit the blade of the still green swordsgirl.

As a result a massive burst of power flows from it. Josephine's eyes grow wide as this is completely unknown data and backs away. "Something's up… It's like… I know, like I've always known. Buried deep inside of me."

Reina practically seems to fly towards her foe, her sword held reverse. She swings and ends up bunting Josephine, knocking her to the ground for once. She slides the sword up, switches hands and spins around. The robotic fighter stands up to see Reina holding the massive metal weapon aloft. Reina takes a small step forward, twists herself around, and brings the sword down in an arch turning it in to something similar to a baseball swing.

The massive attack area of it makes it impossible to dodge. Josephine elects to block it as best she can, which isn't much. Damn sword users… Just as it hits, the robot decides to slump over to absorb the blow better and then go ragdoll as it tosses her around. It helps prevent any major damage. If she were flesh and blood, she'd be just that. Two lumps of flesh and blood strewn about the stadium.

Then comes a phrase no one fighting a machine ever wants to hear. "Initiating self-repair."

Reina groans. She loves robots, but sometimes they are a total pain in the ass. Josephine runs towards Reina. Predicting that, Reina begins a downward chop, the blade threatening to bisect the machine. Josephine ends up blocking the sword with a single kick. The two begin a contest of strength, neither side willing to budge, Reina wanting to cut the machine down, and Josephine trying to knock the blade out of her opponent's hands.

The fighter hops and spins herself around to kick the blade with her other foot. The sword flies from Reina's hands and out to the floor. Josephine kicks it away from her and out towards the seats, narrowly missing Wilhelm and making an impact crater when it lands.

"There. Now you have no choice but to call out your pactios."

"Come on Reina-san!" Kazumi shouts from inside the bubble.

Speaking of, one of the slime sisters tosses Chamo inside of it. "Now stay in there you varmint."

"Chamo-kun!"

"It's sad to see those two kids aren't going to live through this," says one of the slime sisters

"What do you mean?" Yue asks.

"Our orders were to disable Negi Springfield's combat ability for a while, but Wilhelm's petrifaction powers are second to none. And with any luck that Kotaro jackass will be petrified permanently too!"

"Pay attention!" Josephine shouts as she begins a flurry of kicks towards Reina. All the pilot can do is hold her arms up and try to block them as best she can, each attack stinging worst than the last. Josephine positions her feet and lets off one last kick. The force is enough to send Reina rolling backwards and sliding to a stop.

"I am not giving you a choice. Defend yourself! Use your pactios! Or…" She walks over to the bubble with Chizuru in it and places her hand on it. "I will slowly electrocute this Chizuru girl. I know you have figured out I can send electricity through my hands so do not play dumb with me."

"That's torture!" Reina says.

Josephine scoffs and small arcs of electricity ripple across the back of her hand.

"Fine! I'll do it, just lay off, okay?" Reina takes out the pactio she accidentally made with that Fate kid. "This is the one, right?"

"Yes."

Reina swallows and takes a deep breath. "Adeat."

The card shines like the noon day sun, and leaves a shovel in Reina's hand. It unnerves her to be holding it. It is certainly nothing to write home about as far as how it looks. Like with other artifacts, inherent knowledge of its use enters her mind.

Reina tells her foe, "There was a reason I never wanted to use this… And you're about to see why."

"My job is to find out about it regardless. Bring out the shield too."

Reina does as commanded and summons the shield that was formed when she kissed Negi. It's still something she wishes she could remember. "I'm going to make this quick since," says Reina from behind her shield and shovel. "I feel like a dumbass."

"Getting a little ahead of oursel—

Reina points her shield at the gynoid fighter and Josephine feels drawn in. Literally, she can feel herself being pulled in, like gravity is suddenly working sideways. Working with it, the fighter leaps up and effortlessly glides towards the shield maiden. Not wanting to waste this opportunity, Josephine launches an all-out assault on Reina… or rather her shield. Every attack, no matter how well it is aimed, hits the shield.

"It draws in attacks, fighters… As long as I hold it out, you can't do a thing but wear yourself out. Josephine finds it takes greater effort to back away than usual. When she does that, Reina takes her shovel and jams it into the ground. A massive fissure opens up, starting at Reina and quickly rupturing towards Josephine, ripping up the stage.

Josephine tries moving back as fast as she can, but Reina pulls the shovel out of the ground and points it at the floor beneath her swiftly vanishes, leaving her to fall… towards Reina. The shield works its magic and since Josephine has no way of resisting, she flies towards Reina and a nice hit by her shovel. Without a moment's notice, she's suddenly buried up to her neck in dirt, despite being well above ground.

Reina aims her shield at her sword laying out in the stands. It frees itself and looks as if it's gliding back to its owner. "I told you this would be quick." She rotates the blade around in her hand, the blade looking like a slow moving flat drill bit. "What's worse for you is that this sword and this shield were meant to work together."

Josephine struggles to free herself, but nothing seems to work against her impromptu burial. "So destroy me and be done with it." She huffs and looks away.

"No… I want you to repay for my phone so I have a better idea. Anyone of you guys," Reina asks everyone that can hear her, "have a phone? Mine's broken."

"Secchan has one!" Konoka tells her.

"Good. Do what you do and get yourselves out of there. When you're all free, I'll call my father and he'll be glad to harvest any kind of data from this machine. Compact machines such as her are admittedly still a weak point of Kaminari's. Operation Carlsbad representing our, sadly, top of the line."

Josephine remains the image of silent defiance.

"Anyway, for now, I'm going to let Negi and that wolfboy finish off their fight. You slime girls, drop the barriers right now or I'll bury you so deep the next time anyone sees you, it'll be as diamonds." She points the shovel at them for extra emphasis.

"Heh. You can't do anything to us. We know you can't use magic, and your weapons won't work on us since we'll just be able to ooze out of things, and our numbers are far superior to yours."

Reina grunts in frustration. "Well then, for now, I suppose we'll let Negi and the wolf kid finish their fight."

"Why not help them out?" Kazumi asks.

"I don't like seeking help from others, and I know Negi is the same. And besides, someone has to stay here and make sure you guys are safe and she stays firmly in the ground. That and I think those two will be just fine."

"How about this necklace then?" Asuna asks.

Reina answers, "I'm pretty sure the girls there will hassle me and you if I try. Right now, I'm as tied up as you are." Even though it is a calm moment, her battle sense keeps her mind focused on keeping people safe rather than the fact that there are girls no less than an arm's length from her. She glances to Konoka and squints a bit. With that, she stabs her sword into the stage and plants the shovel next to it. With a sigh, she leans herself up with her shield next to the other two items.

"She's providing a wall to hide our actions," Konoka whispers.

* * *

Wilhelm knocks Kotaro and Negi down again. He dusts his hands off and adjusts his hat. "Just what are you doing?" he asks flatly. And is that a sound of disappointment in his voice?

Negi picks himself up off the ground and asks, "What do you mean?"

"This fight kid. I've been given all these stories about the son of the Thousand Master, and how he walks in his father's footsteps… And then I get here and… Well, quite frankly, truth is sadder than fiction. Are you even trying to fight?"

Negi's voice doesn't seem as confident as usual. "I'm giving it everything I've got."

"Everything you have? Let me set you straight here by asking you something. What exactly is it that you fight for?"

"Huh? What do you mean?" Negi asks, puzzled.

"Take a good look at your friend Kotaro-kun there. He's a thick-headed battle junkie, and what are you fighting for? Your friends? Feh. You disappoint me kid. I really did expect better of you. A person should fight with for themselves. Other options aren't even acceptable.

"Darker emotions such as hatred, anger, and vengeance are the best engines. If you'd like a simpler version, being comfortable with one's own strength is meaningless and makes all your fights meaningless."

"I don't fight for self-satisfaction!" Negi defies. "I fight because—

"Because of what? Your own messed up moral code? The twin demons of Guilt and Revenge dancing around inside your head with the memories of so long ago? Even if you take on the mantle of 'responsibility' it can never give you enough will to carry on. Those memories of that so long ago in that village, the ones you seek to run away from!"

"No… There's no way you could…"

The sounds of bones cracking and a hint of screams herald a change in the old man's face. He takes his hat off and looks up at the boy.

"Woah…" Asuna comments.

Reina stands up a bit straighter, her eyes wide.

"That expression on you face is priceless," Wilhelm comments. "And to think, when I tell people I'm a demon, they think I've either gone senile or joking."

"You were—

"Geh he heh heh heh! I am your raison d'être, Negi boy. Everything you are now… Is because of me. You see, I was one of the high-level demons called to raze that village, and I almost petrified everyone there. But I was defeated by that magister before I could turn you to stone. You know him… Don't you? Heh heh heh."

Small tears run down Negi's cheeks as the wound of that gets opened again.

"So kid, feel like fighting yet, or am I just pissing in the wind?"

"Negi? Hey Negi! You okay?" Kotaro asks but gets no answer. "Don't listen to him!"

In a blink, Negi is down in front Wilhelm, the old man's face back to normal after his 'little push' of the young boy. Wilhelm is unable to react in time to the child's attack. He channels all of his power and knocks his enemy skyward. Not a second later, Negi is following right behind him, preparing another attack. He connects and follows up with an elbow and a kick.

Kotaro stands slack-jawed at what Negi is doing. "Where'd this speed comes from?"

"This isn't good," Chamo comments. "His inexperience is causing all of his power to be released at once. It's dangerous for everyone involved."

Negi cracks Wilhelm across the face, sending him hurtling towards the ground.

"Geh heh heh heh! Now this is how the child of the Thousand Master should be! Exactly as I was expecting!"

Kotaro goes rushing in to help.

Wilhelm continues to speak, all the while his body morphs, changing into that with which Negi is more familiar. "Your perfect talent and skills would be something I'd like to see in the future, but sadly, destroying you outright is what I want to do!" The demon that he encountered back home years ago stands before him, a light glowing in its mouth.

"Geee heh heh heh heh!" A brilliant light fires forth from the demon's mouth and rushes over Negi.

Next thing Negi knows, he's getting up off the floor of the amphitheater. "I… Whu… I just sort of…" He catches sight of Kotaro and the newly formed streak of blood running down his face. "Kotaro!"

"Really Negi… YOU ARE AN IDIOT!" Kotaro strikes him across the skull.

"I was just… Why'd you hit me?"

"Because you can't go running in like that, you moron! Doing that just sets you up to be counterattacked. Your magic may be strong, child of this Thousand Master, whatever… But I don't think there's anyone here that couldn't tell that was your worst fight ever. If that's the culmination of all this training you've supposedly done, then I could win against you all day, every day.

"And I don't know what's going on between and that guy, but you can't get all agitated like that. Losing your cool in battle is like opening yourself up and telling your enemy to kick your ass. Brat!" Kotaro grabs him by the cheek and pulls it hard, much like a certain red head. "Dumbass!"

All of Negi's friends up on stage take notice of what Kotaro did.

"So Negi, let's beat the crap outta this guy together." Kotaro gives him the thumbs up.

Negi nods. "Right. Let's go."

"Heh. So you two think you can defeat me? Let's see what you and your partner can do!" Wilhelm takes a stance, only to have his attention drawn back to the stage as the girls in the bubble suddenly burst forth.

The moment the bubble bursts, Reina grabs her gear, dismissing her shield, shovel, and readying her sword for anything that might happen… Not that she'd know what she's doing.

The slime sisters catch on a bit too late. They begin heading towards the girls, all of which coordinate one part of the assault. Reina slows them down, Yue dives for the bottle, Kazumi snags the necklace off Asuna, Konoka frees Setsuna, and Ku Fei attacks the bubble with Chizuru.

Kotaro and Negi smile their approval from out in the seats as Yue and Nodoka seal the slime sisters away in the bottle.

"And with that, your defense against my spells is gone. Kotaro, I'm going to have to trouble you to run the frontline offense."

Kotaro replies, "Heh. I'm the one who should be worrying about you."

Wilhelm seems even more confident. "Good good. Bring everything you have to the table."

"I'll show you that you should be so smug! Especially when your magical barrier is totally gone!" threatens Kotaro.

He begins his attack by splitting himself in multiple copies. As all of him dives in, Wilhelm easily knocks them all away. "Bad dog! Keep it up and someone's going to be paying the veterinarian a visit. The only one I care to fight is that boy, Negi."

When he knocks them to and fro, he misses the one down and in front of him. "Shoulda been looking here!" The wolf boy lands a fist to the old man's chin, opening a window for Negi to come in.

The child teacher elbows the old man, forcing him back a short distance. While Wilhelm recovers, slowly morphing back into his demon form, Negi incants and unleashes a powerful lighting spell, enhanced by the thunderstorm. A blast of light, electricity, and a few sparks later, the weather over the school begins to clear.

Father away, but still within line of sight, Evangeline watches her student with a look of satisfaction on her face.

Chachamaru observes, "It seems like everything will be okay, despite all of your hesitation and worry, Master."

"You had better silence yourself and never say such things again. Though I guess that seeing him succeed and actually defeat him makes me feel a little proud. I should praise him."

Back on the stage, Reina get a phone from Setsuna and makes a phone call as the rest marvel at Negi's accomplishment.

The defeated Wilhelm lay on the stage, a ring of char around him. "Don't feel like landing the final blow after all of this? You did win after all." He starts to dissolve slowly. "If you leave me like this, I'll get sent back to my native plane. I might come back and fight you again. And with the bottle filled, you don't have too many options."

"Listen, I—

Wilhelm cuts him off. "I checked on you, you know. The nine combat spells you learnt before your arrival. The high level spell should be for 'that,' right? The one that's meant for exterminating my kind. You learned it with the idea of getting revenge for your fellow villagers…"

Negi sighs. "I'm… I'm not going to be giving you any kind of final blow. While you were brought to my home six years ago… You personally didn't harm any of the girls here today. Your friend there… I don't know what to feel. And thinking back, I don't believe I gave you the best fight I could have. For people like me, you're—

"What? I'm still a demon. Doing evil things is in my nature, part and parcel. So for all you know, I'm a real bad guy."

"Despite that, I will not attack."

"You're an honest kid. Probably too honest really. One last thing before I'm dragged back to whence I came. Your lady friend there, Konoka… Her startling magical power gives her the potential to become the most powerful healer in the world. With the right training, she could probably even heal the people I petrified way back then. How long that will take is beyond me though.

"Well, it seems my time has come. So I thank you Negi. The next time we fight is something I'll look forward to with bated breath, so don't let me down. Geh heh heh heh heh!" His laugh echoes throughout the amphitheater as the last remaining bits of his vapor wafts skyward into the cold night moon.

It's not long after that that everyone starts to depart. Eventually it's just Setsuna, Konoka, Reina, and Josephine. Reina keeps her eyes on the fighter to keep her from doing anything shifty. "T- Thank y- you for k- ke- keeping me company while m- my dad a- ar- arrives." Now that the fight's been over a while, the same old fear's been given a chance to sneak back in.

"You're welcome!" Konoka tells her happily. "You shouldn't be expected to wait here all alone with her. This way if she tries something Secchan can beat her up for you."

Setsuna blushes at this praise, knowing that while it was probable, one should make such bold claims. Still, it was Konoka so…

"Set- Set- Setsuna-san, can I a- ask you something?" Reina asks while looking at her sword.

"Go ahead."

"C… Could I… Would it be p- p- ossible sometime for y- you to…"

"Train you?"

"Y- Yes. I- I don't w- want to p- put you out or a- a- annoy you or an- any- anything. I know I- I'm n- not exactly s- s- skilled."

"Ojou-sama told me about the sword move you used. Maybe you can teach me something too. But yes, I can at least teach you the basics. My style isn't suited for such a massive slab of metal. But still, I know you can't use magic, but perhaps you can learn ki."

"I- I don't know a- ab- ab- about t- t- t- teaching you anything. It was j- just a f- f- fluke." Reina points to the cut on her head.

"Ah well. Maybe you'll remember again. But yes, starting tomorrow, we can start training. Most of what you learn will have to be on your own since mercurial swords, and ones as big as that one, are in a class of their own."

"Th- Th- Thank you." A few moments of silence creeps in before Reina observes, "I should get a holster or something…"

A few more minutes and some light conversation pass before the Kaminari Grand Industrial box van arrives, ready to take its prisoner.

* * *

Josephine reboots, feeling the effects of whatever Kamianri did to her earlier. She's in the back of the truck, along with a couple of humans, presumably from Kaminari. Her hands are bound by special manacles. Straining against them doesn't do anything.

"So this is how it ends huh? To think, beaten by a kid that did not know a thing about what she was doing. Damn it."

The truck eventually comes to a stop and she's escorted out by a whole fleet of people. Bright flood lights stream down on the area making her smile.

"Before you get any ideas, we've disabled your camouflage," someone tells her.

She recognizes him the moment she sees him. "William Whitehall… I never thought I would get, nor cared, to meet you."

"Cut the shit."

"So, serving as my executioner then? Make it quick, I don't like people wasting my time, even if it is limited."

William tells her, "No such thing. You're far more useful in an active state."

"So I'm a lifer in your prison?" she asks. Her voice still full of venom.

"Not unless you want to be."

* * *

Dawn arrives, bring the hope and promise of a new day to all those below it. The early morning sun beams down brightly on the face of Negi as he recalls the fight yesterday. Pain crawls over him, causing him to shake. He doesn't know it, but he's being watched.

Konoka tells Asuna, "Negi-kun's all depressed again. You two haven't been fighting, have you? He's looking really sad."

"It' all from yesterday, isn't it? Should we leave him like that?" Setsuna asks.

"Aww… Dang it Negi…" Asuna mutters to herself.

"HEY NEGI!" someone shouts as he sits there alone. He looks and sees that it is Kotaro. "Whatcha doing there with your stupid face hanging out this early in the morning?" he asks with a punch to the face. "Anyway, they're letting me out early because of the fight yesterday. Spoke to the warden and everything."

"Hey, all right. That's great."

"No offense man, but you look tired. You okay?"

"No, it's nothing like that. Anyway, I've decided that I'm going to become a magic swordsman… Or fighter I guess. I thought it was fun partnering with you yesterday."

"Wow, really? That's awesome. Men gotta fight with their fists, you know! So how about that rematch then? Here and now!"

"Whoa. Hold on a minute Kotaro-kun, I'm still injured from the fight yesterday!"

"Hey wait. Should you have been healed by Konoka-neechan since then? She's the healing one, right?"

"While true, I still hurt from then!" Negi explains.

"I won't allow you to fake an injury! Real men aren't liars!" Kotaro threatens.

Trying to avoid the conflict, Negi asks, "Since you've taken care of everything, shouldn't you be off to Kyoto? I mean there isn't any business keeping you here."

"Nothing but our rematch and I'm gonna see to it, no matter what."

Konoka, Setsuna, and Asuna all show their happiness in their own way. Konoka's being the brightest. "Tee hee! Looks like our little teacher has a friend now. Maybe everything's going to be better for him."

"Yep," Setsuna says, "Looks like he's back to normal."

Asuna and Chamo simply smile quietly, happy that their friend finally has someone his own age to hang around with.

**Negima: Femella Intra Machina Chapter 14: End**

**The End of the Chapter Stuff:** There's still so much that needs to be done to make this fic awesome again. And the upcoming chapters are going to be the most important but I feel I lost most of the long time fans by disappearing.

Does anyone even remember the early chapters anymore?

Anyway, as far as what I listened to, there was a lot. Too much to list here.

**Thanks go to:** The Ansem Man for proofing and being a consistently cool dude.

**As always, you guys rule for reading this!**


	15. Velocitas Eradico

**Author's Notes:** Hopefully, if everything worked out right, The King of Dust will have updated at the same time, suffering from the same one year lapse I had. Anyway, if you're feeling bold, feel free and hop on over to it and check it out. (Rated M for Mature, kids.)

One more thing, as I channel Steve Jobs, the name of this chapter comes from the U.S. Navy's railgun. And the events were inspired by episode eighteen of "The Big O" entitled "The Greatest Villain."

**Negima: Femella Intra Machina**

**Dark Dragon Dave**

**Chapter 15: Velocitas Eradico**

InfinIT, the runner-up in the robotics race. Once said of them by Schwarzerschutz's Rachel Lynch, "They come in fourth in a field of two." Suffice to say, they are thought of as a joke within the community, at least to Kaminari and Schwarzerschutz. To those even below them, they're seen as an anachronism. Their latest attempt at dominance, New Dawn and Ozzymandus, were leaps and bounds beyond what they are usually capable of. With the apparent destruction of New Dawn and Ozzymandus at the hands of the Artificer's own A.I. their future seems bleak at best, since the cost of developing an artificial intelligence being astronomical for anything smarter than a bug. Not to mention the cost of giant robots.

Their death seems inevitable.

* * *

A man in a brown outfit turns his equally brown box van around a corner and heads down the street. It has been so far, a routine day of package delivery, showing exactly what brown can do. In the back of the truck there is any number of boxes waiting to be dropped off at several locations within Mahora Academy.

As the van rolls to a stop in front of another building, a man out in front nods to another man beside him. The second man nods back and begins walking slowly towards the truck as the driver gets out. The second man walks around the truck and across the street and out of the driver's view.

The first man, on the other hand, enters the building. The driver leaves the back of the truck and heads towards the building with a box and digital clipboard. The second man takes this opportunity to hop in the passenger side of the delivery truck and go into the back to begin rummaging through the different boxes.

The delivery man drops off the package and gets the signature he is after. As he is about to leave he hears a strange click and something hard getting shoved into his back.

"We're going to head outside and when we get there, you're going to drive your truck out of town and away from the highway."

The courier makes no sudden movements and does as his assailant asks. When he sits down in his seat, the courier is about to slam the truck into gear and leave the man behind when another gun clicks behind his head.

"Sorry man… It just doesn't look like it's your day, does it?"

The other man climbs up in the passenger side and sits down. "Now let's get going."

* * *

A dirt road to the middle of a forest is a strange place to be for a brown delivery truck to be but it is there nonetheless.

"Okay pal, here's what's gonna happen. You're gonna go back there and help my friend there find a box for a one 'Reina Whitehall.' You see, our boss is very set on getting it before she does since it could mean billions in lost profits. And we can't have that."

"I—

"Shut up and get the damn box already! Time is money."

"I already delivered that package."

Everyone is silent for a moment before the two criminals begin freaking out. "WHAT?"

"She received it earlier this morning. I deliver all packages for students straight to the school's own mail office."

"Oh man… We screwed up," said the guy in the back of the truck. He ends up on the receiving end of a couple of punches by the guy in the passenger seat.

"You damn idiot! You told me the boss said it was going to be delivered at 9:19!" Drops of sweat visible on his brow.

"Yeah he gave me a note." The screw up reaches into his pocket and hands over a small, crumpled, yellow note. "See? 9:19."

The slowly angering smarter crook looks it over. "You moron! You looked at it upside down. This says 6:16."

"Oh…"

"Don't 'oh' me! We gotta do something to fix this! We're both going to be fired over this."

The dimmer of the two looks at his watch. "We should have a few hours right? Let's head back and nab it there."

"Hey, you can have an idea every now and again."

Before they leave, they shoot the courier's phone and tires, stranding him in the woods.

* * *

"Sister, how have you been?" asks the little hologram Negi. A girl with long, blonde, hair watches the little hologram with a smile on her face. "I'd like to think I've been getting along well here. As you know, four months have passed since I left and, even though teaching has been tough, everyone here has been really nice and helpful in getting me used to being a teacher.

"I've made a lot of good friends here, from the one student who works really hard but still seems to get low marks to the one who commands a giant machine. I've sent along a few articles and pictures about all of that. Oh and there's Kotaro too. He's a new friend I've made."

"Hey, Negi. Who are you talking to?" A girl asks and comes into the range of the hologram.

"Asuna! I'm recording a letter for my sister."

"Oh jeez, I'm sorry. Well, I guess I should say hello. My name is Asuna Kagurazaka." Nekane laughs at this. "Hey Negi, you should probably just make another letter."

"I think this is fine. She might be interested in seeing one of my students."

"But I'm in my pajamas."

"Eh heh heh… Anyway, I've been getting training from a powerful mage called Evangeline, and I've been training in Kenpo from Ku Fei. It's a pretty popular martial art. But other than my teaching job, there's been so many other things that have happened." Chamo hops up on his shoulder and whispers something inaudible to the recorder. "Well, I guess I'm going to have to leave those for later."

"_Seems he's growing up. He's starting to keep things from me… This makes me feel really lonely,_" she thinks to herself. She sighs and sits up. "Well, at least the people around him all seem really nice. Keep working hard Negi."

* * *

Negi, Asuna, and the ever zephyr-like Konoka rush to school in their usual routine. The roads flush with students heading to their own classes join them in the crazy morning hours of Mahora on a weekday. Before they can make it, a familiar face interrupts them.

"Yo there Negi!" Kotaro says.

"Ah! Good morning Kotaro-kun. Say, what's with that outfit?" Negi asks.

The wolf boy beams a big smile. "I officially transferred here."

"Really? Why'd you do that?"

"Well, because of you, Setsuna-san, and that other really strong girl. Right now, I'm looking for a place to stay at. Preferably alone."

An intense, forceful, energy burst out from behind Kotaro. "Oh that just won't do! I insist you stay with us!"

Kotaro blanches and looks behind himself. Chizuru is standing there with Natsumi beside her. The young actress looks like she's about to witness the acts of some sort of cosmic horror.

With a slight shudder in his voice, Kotaro begins pleading. "H- Hey listen…"

"Nonsense. Negi-sensei, you know Kotaro, correct?"

"Er… Yes?"

"I hear this poor boy has no parents." Chizuru begins hugging the wolf boy, pressing his head against her chest.

"Please stop this!" Kotaro strains, "Negi's looking!"

"Huh." Negi comments, not sure of what's going on.

"And because of this, it's up to me to raise this boy properly into a fine man!" Several clouds part, sending beams of twinkling light down on the girl.

As they stand there, something bumps into the two boys. The turn to see—

"Demons!" Negi shouts as the two of them reflexively take offensive stances.

"Whoops… Sorry kid. Didn't mean to nearly run you down there." The 'demons' turn and head off, followed by a bunch of other chaos. Robots, Kamen Rider, and giant teddy bears, oh my.

Negi comments, "Even with as long as I've been here, this still seems weird."

"What the heck…"

"The college seniors always put their all into this," Asuna says casually.

Chizuru asks, "I wonder when that'll be used?"

Something else catches the eyes of Negi and Kotaro. The dazzling display of an acrobat leaping from the rings held by swinging acrobat, and grabbing on to another swing. Getting a better look, Negi can see who it is. The daredevil child glances down and sees who is looking up at her.

"Isn't that?"

She leaps off the swing, does a 1800 degree spin, and lands right in front of the child teacher. "Negi-sensei, please come visit our 'Nightmare Circus' sometime." She hands him a couple of tickets.

"O- Okay." Negi says, causing Zazie to smile at him. The shock of hearing her speak prevents him from saying much else.

Kotaro, never having met her before, has no such problem. "So what's with all this anyway?"

"It's the school festival," explains Natsumi. "That reminds me." She produces two tickets and hands them to Negi. "I'm going to be doing something with my club and I wanted to give you a couple of tickets."

"Oh! Um, thank you. I'll be sure to visit you during your activity too."

"Hey look Negi," Kotaro says while pointing at a new structure, "the Arch Du Jour."

"That's 'Arc de Triomphe.' But what it's doing here is beyond me."

"You stupid kids!" shouts a guy near it.

"Hey old guy, what's with the Arc… d- du Fromage?"

"Hey! Cut the 'old guy' crap! Anyway, this here is the Festival Gate."

Kotaro is stunned. "Nice. If this is just the gate, this school must be amazing!"

"Oh you guys don't know the half of it. Since you guys weren't here for the last one, let me bring you up to speed," Chizuru explains. "It's an academy-wide festival, and with the higher classes done with their midterms, they're all anxious to get going. And most of the university run booths and attractions make their entire yearly budget off of this, so of course they're going to go all out."

"Holy crap!" Kotaro exclaims.

"It's not all fun and games though. The parties can get out of hand rather quickly. Like last year when a campus-wide game of tag resulted in nearly 10,000 deaths." Negi and Kotaro begin to turn white as sheets. "The streets ran red with blood…" Somewhere, a thunderbolt cracks.

Asuna breaks her story. "Quit scaring the kids. Listen you two, I was here last year and no such thing happened. There's never been any deaths during Mahorafest."

Kotaro says, "This sounds like fun," with cheer in his voice. "I'm glad I transferred here. Whadya say Negi? Let's go join up with the martial arts tournament or something?"

Hesitantly, Negi answers, "Well, I don't know. I'm kinda behind on some things."

* * *

Chisame wakes up well before the chaos of the morning routine. She stretches out and puts her feet on the floor with a yawn. She stands up and pats Reina to wake her up. Since Chisame's roommate moved in, she's gotten used to having to be her alarm clock.

"Hey, time to get up." Reina mutters something unintelligible in response. "Not gonna work." Chisame tells her and walks over to her computer. She wakes it up easier than her roomie, and opens her media player. In the search field she types in "Children of the Elder God" and presses play.

A powerful guitar rift later and Reina wakes up. "Warriors, torchbearers, come redeem our dreams!" the song continues, while the formerly slumbering girl flops around like she's on fire.

"What the hell?" Reina asks, her hair somehow more disheveled than it usually is.

Chisame stops the song when it starts going on about Memory and Thought. "It's time to get ready for school."

"Ugh… F- Fine." The pilot girl hops out of bed and adjusts her hair as best she can. In a few short minutes, she's dressed for school and heading out.

"Not going to eat anything?"

Leaving, Reina answers hurriedly, "I'm s- stopping by the p- p- post office before school. I've b- been exp- p- ecting a n- ew phone. And I got a- a- asked to do something b- before class s- starts."

"Okay. You could at least grab something out of the refrigerator." Chisame nods in its direction.

Reina submits easily and walks back to the kitchen. Playfully, she remarks "Th- Thanks mom." Not really looking, she takes an orange juice out.

Slightly angry, Chisame tells her, "Don't call me that!"

Not saying anything in response, Reina shoots out the door and down the hallway.

* * *

As Negi enters class, he's greeted by several of his students dressed as maids. Front and center is Ayaka Yukihiro. Each one of the five girls sports a big smile as they announce, "Hello there and welcome to the 'Merry Maids of the 3-A Café, Albionis!'"

"What is all of this?" Negi asks in a panicked tone, throwing his arms up in shock and horror at the sudden change to the classroom. He is on the verge of flailing.

Ayaka explains, "We decided to do a maid café. The school allows us raise money so we're doing this to bring in some funds. Still, I'm unclear as to what a maid café is, but since we all need them, I'll be willing to help get custom made clothes for everyone."

Yuna and Haruna both think along the line of, "A fool and their money are soon parted." Looks of greed slime across their faces, bending around their smiles.

"Hey Negi, why not be our first customer?" suggests one of the girls, the idea of which the other girls pick up and continue as they haul him over to a couch.

He suddenly finds himself with a drink in hand as the girls fawn over him. The pace at which things are moving leaves him in a state of confusion.

"Oh dear, Negi-kun," Sakurako says, "I dropped bottle opener down between my breasts. Would you mind getting it for me?"

"WHAT?" Asuna shouts.

Negi only sputters in response. "You want me to what where?"

"Just a little adult play," Misa answers with a sultry tone in her voice. "Negi-kun."

"And here is you bill sir, 7800 yen."

Negi sprays his drink. "WHAAAAAAAA?"

"Oh come on!" protests Asuna.

Ayaka shares her dissatisfaction. "That's highway robbery!"

"We've still got so many other costumes Negi!" is the last thing he hears before there are more girls standing in front of him in various styles of maid uniforms… Except Akira who is dressed in a bunny outfit for some strange reason.

Ku Fei puts it on his tab. "That's 12,000 now Negi-sensei. Pay now please."

"Seriously, what the hell is up with this?" Asuna asks Yuna, stress and anger in her voice.

"See, we couldn't agree on a single uniform and since we're making money while teaching Negi about the pitfall filled world of adulthood, we were thinking it'd be like a three-in-one deal," explains Yuna.

"Still something… lacking," Kazumi waxes. "We need a variety of tastes to cater to more people." She thinks for a bit before snapping her fingers.

She points at every one of her targets. "Mana, you'll be a priestess. Misora, you'll be a nun in a mini skirt. Setsuna, school swimsuit and cat ears. Reina, an Evangelion style plugsuit. Ako, sexy cat-eared nurse. And you two," she says while pointing at the twins, "kindergarteners."

Most of the girls seem to be either shocked or horrified. Except Reina who is more interested in fiddling around with her new phone.

"I what?" asks Mana

"Okaaaaay…" Misora says.

Shocked, Setsuna asks, "Why is mine so out of place?"

"Already have one," Reina says flatly, distracted by putting her old SIM card in her new phone.

Without warning, they are all wearing their prescribed outfits. Mana, Ako, and Setsuna are embarrassed by their outfits. Reina freaks out because of her sudden nearby classmates and that she does not remember getting dressed up.

Oddly, Fuuka and Fumika are okay with it.

Ku Fei punches in some random numbers into her calculator. "That 20,000 yen. You pay now." Negi almost has a heart attack.

Kazumi and Yuna stare on horrified. Kazumi says, "I think… We went too far."

"See, this is all wrong," Haruna muses. "Sometimes you just need a light touch… Something like… THIS!" She shows off Nodoka in a simple and nice maid outfit. Something more akin to a waitress.

Ku Fei throws out, "That 28,000 yen." She's not even trying anymore.

The whole time, Chisame is standing outside the room, peeking in. The failing excuses for cosplay going on in there are starting to drive her insane. "I could easily bring in around a thousand people." After a quick outfit change, she barges into the classroom. "Alright maggots, this is going to be Chiu-sama Cosplay Boot Camp in a moment! I'll show you how…" Her voice slowly lowers as she feels a cold presence creep up from behind her.

Like a ghost, Nitta materializes out from the darkness behind her. His voice booms like an explosion. "DO ANY OF YOU GIRLS KNOW WHAT TIME IT IS?"

Despite arguing their case, they all end up sitting in the seiza position.

* * *

After the day winds down, Asuna approaches Setsuna about getting them and Reina together for some training. All three agree and settle on their usual spot. Shyly, Reina tells them she'll join up with them once she grabs her sword. She understands that this is a necessary evil on the road to getting over things. Once an hour passes, with no sign of her or the Ivory, Setsuna and Asuna decide to call her to find out what's happening.

"Hello," says a rather cold, male voice. "It certainly took you long enough."

"What? Who is this?" Asuna asks.

A soft chuckle comes out over the ear piece. "Did you know, it doesn't take much to knock out someone who has a brain full of electronic equipment? Who knew?"

Asuna puts two and two together rather easily. "What have you done with Reina-san?" Setsuna's attention perks up.

"I've said too much. But now that I notice, it's quite a system he has in place. The phone, being the only outside key to the mech… Hmmm… I'm going to hang up now. Don't call again because you'll ruin everything." With that, the other end hangs up.

As soon as that happens, Asuna redials. After a moment, nothing happens. "Damn it, I think my number's blocked."

Setsuna asks, "What's happened?"

"I think someone has Reina." Asuna puts her phone away. "We need to head back. Whoever it was mentioned something about a key to 'the mech' and I'm assuming they meant Reina's."

* * *

Reina heads back to the dorms to grab her sword. Many thoughts run through her mind as she walks, namely if her mother ever found sword training therapeutic. It's cut off quickly as she sighs. "Mom was probably normal."

Before she can enter the dorm room, something hard gets shoved into her back. A quiet click stops her before she can make an obvious joke.

"Good night sweetie."

Once again, as it seems to be a trend since coming here, Reina passes out. This time from an electrical shock.

* * *

When she wakes up, she's bound and tied to a chair, a piece of duct tape over her mouth. Sometimes she really hates her brain. When she can, she should get it looked at.

"Oh good, you're awake. We've got a special presentation for you." Out of the shadows steps a guy with an older television on a cart. Earlier today this guy was hijacking a delivery truck with another guy. "You see, our boss has been a little… freaked… since you destroyed the New Dawn and Ozzy Osbourne, or whatever he was called."

Reina opens her mouth since they only applied on small bit of tape, the tape peeling off her lips, and pulls it off by chewing on it. Once it's a nice slobbery ball of nastyness, she spits it in his direction and scores a direct hit on his face.

"Ah gross." He settles on using his shirt to wipe his face off. Once his face is dry, he begins explaining again. "Anyway, the boss noticed the blast that ended the fight came from somewhere in town here and decided to kill two birds with one stone as it were and take your machine and wipe this city off the map."

"What? Why? Wes Kline wants someone to blame, then blame the Artificer. And he can't even pilot the thing since it only works with me."

"He's used the last of his money to solve that. You see, this is a bit of a final gambit. Either this works or InfinIT is done and we're all out of jobs. Well, sorry I don't have any popcorn or snacks or anything, but it's just about showtime." He turns the TV on and the show begins.

* * *

Before Asuna and Setuna can get back to the dorms, a rather lanky fellow in a sharp suit approaches the girls' dormitory. He stands there and looks up at the large white machine parked up against the building. His coat flutters about as he reaches into his pocket and pulls out a phone.

"I'll show them who the worst company is! Ivory Knight, you're mine to control now! Awaken and obey your NEW MASTER!" He presses the button on Reina's new phone and the lights of the Ivory Knights eyes light up. "Before we get ready to sweep you away to your new life, I want answers from this town. Something happened back then, and it cost me a lot of money. Someone needs to answer for this!"

He begins walking along, pressing the button on the phone. The Ivory Knight walks along behind him like a child following its mother, the heavy metal footsteps of the mech shaking the ground. People inside the buildings come to the windows to look since its pilot has never been this close to the buildings. InfinIT's owner holds the phone high in the air like a trophy of war. When he reaches a parked car, he climbs in and starts it. He drives off with the Ivory Knight keeping pace.

* * *

"NO!" Reina shouts. "Where is he taking it?" Her emotions start to run high as it feels like they're walking off with a piece of her own existence.

Her captor explains, "Everything's been cleared for using the railway out of here. The car is ready to be loaded and then your machine becomes InfinIT's. Sorry it had to come to this kid… But business is business. And business for Mr. Kline ain't so good right now."

* * *

The giant white machine follows the car down one road and turns when it can down another. Its puppet programming merely avoiding crashing into buildings as it follows the signal. Cars swerve out of the way to avoid being stomped on, allowing the car to drive down the middle of the road. People along the sidewalks have mixed reactions. Some don't react much since they are used to Mahora's biggest resident. Others aren't from around there and do their best to freak out and run away.

The light shining up from the city bathes the mech ominously. It stops plodding once Wes stops and gets out of the car with the phone and a brief case.

"Time to raze this shithole to the ground Ivory Knight! And when we get back, we'll study you and then sell you to the highest bidder. There are quite a number of people that would be interested in getting their hands on you." He walks over to the machine, and it lowers the winch in response. "And what's best is that Kaminari Grand Industrial will be the one getting all the blame!" His grin is magnificent.

He rides the winch up and into the Ivory Knight. Once inside, he pops open the case and takes out what looks to be an ordinary controller for a video game system. He hooks it into a box inside the case and then hooks the phone into the box. Kneeling down he takes some tape out of the case and tapes the box down to the floor, and jury rigs the whole set-up to a power feed from the Ivory.

After closing his jacked ride, he heaves himself into the chair only Reina and Negi have ever sat in, and waits for the safety system to strap him in. Before the straps come down, two wires lower themselves down. Wes looks them over curiously and decides to ignore them. After a few seconds of nothing happening, he presses one of the buttons of the controller. The mech jerks in response and the straps quickly bind him to the chair, save his arms.

"Don't want to fall out of this can, now do I?" Screens lower down and show views of the outside. "I knew it. Systems for a standard piloting method were always there."

* * *

Outside the machine, it takes its first step under new management as he moves the left thumbstick up. Farther down the street, on top of a building, Asuna, Setsuna, Konoka, Kaede, and Negi look on.

"Are you sure she's in danger?" Negi asks. "Seems she's back in the Ivory."

Asuna tells him, "It was a man's voice. I know something is up."

As if to prove her point, the Ivory Knight flares its sword and takes a few swipes at the gate that's been set up for Mahorafest. It falls to bits instantly.

"That isn't Reina-dono in there," Kaede says, stating the somewhat obvious.

Shaking his head, Negi says, "There can't be. How could anyone else be in there?"

"Either way, we need to find some way of stopping it."

"I'll go on ahead," Kaede tells them, "and try to get whoever is in there, out of there." Without a bit of hesitation, she runs towards the metal giant. She activates her pactio and goes in invisibly.

"We need to do something too," Setsuna advises.

Chamo pops over his shoulder. "Hey! Don't forget that you can summon her here."

"But what if she really is in there?" asks Negi.

"Contact her with the pactio first," is Chamo's answer.

Negi takes out Reina's card and puts it to his forehead. "_Reina-san! Where are you?_" he asks.

Reina replies, "_Negi-kun? I'm in trouble. Someone's got the Ivory to work for them._"

"_I've noticed. Are you okay? Where are you?_"

"_I don't know. I'm just lucky the guy who tied me up is an idiot._"

"_I'm going to try and teleport you here. Hang on._" The teacher activates the card in attempt to draw his student across space. It takes a while before she materializes.

She screams as she does. "MY HEAD'S GONNA EXPLODE!" Once she's finally there she slumps over as best she can and breathes. "My damn head… One thing is fine, another makes me feel like I'm dying…"

"Let's untie her," Asuna says and gets to work.

"Please be quick," Reina says, with urgency once again overriding fear. "We're wasting time when people could be getting hurt because of me."

Konoka tells her, "Kaede-san's already on that. She's trying to open the hatch."

"Once we have it open," Setsuna gets cut off before finishing.

"She can't open it," Reina tells them. "It's designed to be like one of those vaults. Completely safe on the inside and when I'm inside, even safer. This is bad… Real bad." After a few moments, she turns to Negi and tells him, "Listen, tell Kaede to take out the missile pod on the back."

Negi nods and places Kaede's card against his head.

* * *

Kaede tries hanging on for dear life while upside down. The seal on the Ivory's hatch simply will not budge. She gives up after a while, climbing up to the top of the machine. She does her best to keep her balance as it stomps along.

"_Kaede-san!_" Negi shouts in her thoughts. "_We got Reina and she says to take out the missile pod before it can do any damage!_"

Kaede follows orders and heads to the missile case. She looks around for anything she can destroy to keep the missiles from being fired. With a few swift cuts from her kunai, a rubber covering reveals a cluster of wires. Throwing caution to the wind, she starts hacking at them. Sparks issue forth, setting off an alarm inside the cabin.

* * *

Inside the cabin of the stolen Knight, Wes gets a phone call. His anger at the caller is apparent from the moment he answers.

"You'd better have a reeeeal good reason to bother me while I'm working, Eddie."

"Boss! The girl disappeared!" comes the distressed message from the other end.

"What did you say?" asks Wes, venom in every word. "Before you tell me again, think about what you're saying to me."

Eddie knows that he has messed up. His response is hesitant. "I- I don't know what happened. She just… faded away."

"I should fire you for drinking on the job and then pissing away my time! You probably fell asleep or something. Go find her, she couldn't have gotten far."

"But boss, I didn't—

"Shut up and go find her. She gets out and who knows what will happen." An alarm interrupts him. "Something's wrong. I've got to deal with this. And I'm dead serious on finding that chick."

A message on the screens state "MISSILE BATTERY INACTIVE – MALFUNCTION DETECTED" in red blocky letters.

Wes groans. "What the hell just happened?" He clicks a button that would have activated the missiles and gets a beep that apparently says pressing that button is pointless.

"Well, I still have this!" He taps another button and her rifle fires off. Stupidly it is pointing down when he does it and all he does is cuts utilities to several blocks and the bullet rips a hole in the pavement. "This is a pain in the ass to control."

If people weren't panicking before, they are now.

* * *

"Negi…" Reina speaks. Her hesitation is highly apparent. Small tears form in the corners of her eyes. "Blast it. Once he gets the gun properly figured out, he'll have about a hundred rounds to play with. Use a spell or something and destroy it if you need too."

It levels the gun and takes pot shots at several buildings. Broken glass, metal, and bricks go flying everywhere.

Negi looks uneasy. "Are you sure?"

"Just do it. I can't stand here watching this any longer. You… You guys can do this."

"I don't want to destroy anything so we'll try our best to disable it instead." He pulls out his staff. "Setsuna-san, come with me."

Setsuna nods and climbs on to the staff. It lifts off into the air, carrying Setsuna and Negi towards the massive machine. As they approach it, the scale of it all makes its moves seem a lot faster. They angle around to approach it from the back.

"I think heading for the eyes would be best. He can't attack what he can't see," Negi states.

Setsuna nods in agreement. "A sound decision."

* * *

Inside, Wes notices a ping on the radar system. Whatever it is, it is small. "What? Are they sending a drone after me?" He comes up with an idea quickly and feigns ignorance.

Once they are within range, he turns and throttles the barrel of the gun directly at them, its cavernous opening pointing directly at them. Negi leans down and to his right in time to avoid the massive chunk of metal that belches forth. The shockwave of it going by sends them into spin that ends up in an alleyway.

"That wasn't a drone… What was that?" He stomps the mech over to the alley he sees it crash into.

Kaede hops down from her perch and swallows the duo in invisibility before they can be seen by Wes.

"Hmm. Now how do I activate something other than regular cameras?" He taps a button several times, causing the machine to shudder under a bunch of commands. One of them made the Ivory punch at the building in front of it.

Bricks and mortar crash down in the alley, smashing everything they land upon and filling it with dust.

* * *

"It's like a badly controlled puppet," muses Konoka. "Hopefully Negi and the others are okay."

"Hey, Reina... Your shield draws in attacks, right?" asks Asuna. "Why not use that to draw bullets off their course?"

"Because I don't know where they'd land or if the shield could block the bullet. Taking out the missiles was the best thing I could think of. I wish I knew something you two could do." She punches down on the top of the parapet surrounding the top of the building. "I've never felt so useless."

"Welcome to the rest of us," Asuna offers and puts an arm around her shoulders. "For now, let's sit back and come in if they ask for it."

* * *

A stream of dust rises quickly from alley, offering hope to those who watch. By this time, mages from the academy are gathering in the area to stop the giant machine from wiping out the town. It continues down the street, punching at buildings. Almost synchronized, they all start shooting beams at it.

The impact of all of them explodes, causing the Ivory Knight to reel back. Several of the mages begin casting machine gun like spells as a follow up. Frighteningly, the Ivory Knight runs through cloud of smoke, heading to a larger group of assembled mages. It releases its sword as it runs, ripping up the pavement and cutting a massive swath of destruction along the street.

The mages in front of it are able to dodge the incredibly hot plasma before it burns them to nothingness. Wes brings the sword down and slices the building neatly in half before knocking it down too.

He's cackling on the inside. "NO ONE CAN STOP ME INSIDE OF THIS THING! I AM UTTERLY INVINCIBLE! I can finally see what was wrong with all of my previous machines. This power is incredible."

In an instant, the left half of the screens show a school girl with a sword for a split second before switching to static.

"What the hell?" Wes asks and somehow works the machine into a headbutt.

Setsuna, being on the edge of the eye frame, is unable to dodge the massive wall of metal and high-density, spinel-ceramics. She tumbles to the ground only to be caught by Negi. He has to dodge again when the white giant turns in his direction, swinging away with the barrel of its rifle.

Wes fiddles with the buttons and stumbles upon what Reina fears. The Ivory Knight lifts off the ground, its powerful engines bursting the glass of nearby buildings. It doesn't get too far into the sky before coming down again with a big impact.

Now that he knows what button to press, the Ivory Knight lifts off and stays there. The three kids fighting the machine follow along up into the air on Negi's staff. The Ivory rotates a few times, drops down a bit, raises up… The pilot inside is getting used to the way it moves before going further.

"Now I know I've seen that bitch boost this thing around at incredible speed… How do I do that?" He presses a button on the other side of the controller and finds out. "I see. This is just like that one mech game. I'll have to give the lab boys a little bit of a bonus for that." He shuts the thrusters back down before the machine can take off.

Negi, Setsuna, and Kaede catch up with the machine. Negi moves around behind the machine and takes aim at the engines. He feels guilty as he channels as much power as he can and fires off his light arrows. They explode as they impact, but don't seem to be doing much damage.

"It didn't do anything!" cries the boy.

"I assume this was made for military grade stuff, so it might be one tough fight," Kaede tells him. "We seem to have more luck attacking up close. Let's try taking out its radar next. It's those two flaps in the shape of a sideways peace sign on the back, right?"

"I- I think so."

"I'll try and take that out. Setsuna-dono, take out the other eye. Let's blind whoever is in there."

The machine turns around and focuses its one good eye on the trio.

"What am I seeing?" Wes ponders, looking at the three children floating on a stick and decides to swipe at it with the open palm of his jacked ride. He figures hitting a fly with a sword is near impossible, especially if you aren't fully familiar with the weapon in question.

More beams and other projectiles hit the hand before it can make contact. The machine pulls its hand back and looks around.

"Where are these people keeping their weapons?" wonders the Ivory's new pilot. He activates the sword and flies down to take swipes at the people firing at him. He misses but ends up cutting through the top of the building they were standing on.

Negi and his two students catch up with the machine quicker than expected since it flies back. The three of them land hard on its back area and spill off the staff. The young teacher rolls down and catches himself on the edge before falling off. He scrambles back up and gets some proper footing.

Covering his eyes in case of loose fragments, he fires more light arrows at the radar array on the Ivory Knight's back. He continues firing light arrows at it until it finally breaks apart and swings uselessly off of the mech's back.

The machine's balance goes haywire when that happens, causing it to list forward by a degree. An enterprising mage with the school take this opportunity to cast a gravity spell, dropping the machine like a lead bowling ball. Chunks of pavement rip up as it lands, sending dirt and cement into the air. Negi keeps his two partners from meeting the ground like the mech.

The machine looks up and focuses its one good eye. It braces itself and tries pushing itself upright.

"Get up you piece of shit!" Wes yells out from inside it.

It shows its superiority to that nameless mage and rights itself with little effort.

"DIE!" shouts its pilot at the mages and aims the gun as best he can. When he fires, he misses wide to the right. "Damn it. Targeting is all messed up." He drops the gun and settles on going for full melee. Anyone in the industry can make a gun.

He takes a moment to do stock on his situation. There's a bunch of people around here with energy weapons on all sides of him, strange goings on with a girl took out one of the eyes, some kind of weird drone or something…

"What the hell is up with this school?" he asks himself as he activates the Knight's sword again. He grips the controller and says, "Here goes nothing."

The machine fires off its side boosters while holding out the sword, giving it a 360 degree cutting pattern. He boosts the engines more and more, increasing the speed of the blade as it slices through the air. Everything in the area feels the wrath of Wes Kline as the blade slices through it all. Stuff nearby that is not destroyed melts or burns; the air ripples with heat as the plasma in the air dissipates.

Several shots ring out, like those from a high caliber rifle. The bullets bounce off without doing much damage, aside from scraping some paint off. Inside the cabin of the Ivory, a signal on the screen alerts Wes as to the direction of the attack. The Ivory Knight turns and looks around, Wes hoping to find the source.

He cannot trace where they came from nor see the shooter. "I'm being ganged up on. Perhaps this school has more to it than I initially thought. I think it's about time to head on out of here. Lemme see if I can do her little sliding trick."

He fires the thrusters just enough to get some lift and moves the machine forward. Just like Reina does, it begins sliding forward. It is a much faster way of moving around. The mages all begin to panic as they have no way of keeping up with the machine.

It dashes through town, doing what damage it can, on its trip to the rail station. Negi, despite channeling everything he can, can't keep up. The teacher gets a message from Reina, over the pactio. "_Aim for the back of the knee. If you take out the legs, it'll be useless._"

"_I can't even keep up with it,_" Negi tells her in response.

Something tackles the Ivory Knight, keeping the teacher and his two friends from needing to worry about it.

* * *

Reina looks off into the distance and can see what tackled it. "No… What the hell is he doing here?" She turns to Konoka and Asuna."We need to get over there now!" Without a response, she climbs down a fire escape.

"Come on Konoka," Asuna says and follows suit.

"Right behind you!"

Once they're on the ground, Reina looks around and sees a sporty, two-door, car. She tilts her head at an odd angle and smiles, her eyes filled with a strange gleam. Disregarding law entirely, she enters the driver's side and starts the car.

"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?" Asuna yells.

"My day's already turned to crap so a minor motor vehicle theft charge isn't really something I'm concerned about. Besides… This guy isn't going to mind."

"Yay! Shotgun!" Konoka trills as she heads to the passenger side.

Asuna catches up with the both of them. "Hey… Where am I supposed to sit?"

Konoka tilts her seat forward. "There you go." Her face is devious in its happiness.

Asuna climbs into the back of the car and finds a perfectly uncomfortable spot to sit in. "Can you drive?"

"I can pilot a massive robot like it was the back of my hand…" Reina answers. "And no, I'm not referring to the Ivory Knight." Once Konoka is in, she puts the car in gear and drives off. "But yes, I can. A golf cart anyway."

* * *

The Ivory Knight picks itself up and turns to face what just knocked it over. It's black and very similar to the Ivory Knight. Following up behind this new menace is green machine that he knows the model of.

"Well, if it isn't Hisao Whitehall, pilot of the Ebony Knight. And a BG-302-Falchion… You a garbage man now?" Wes asks, his voice full of condescension. "I mean, it's the only reason I can think of having one of _those_ with you."

The Falchion begins to dart forward, but Hisao sticks his arm out, holding the Falchion back. "Corentin." Hisao looks back to the Ivory Knight. "So who are you and why have taken my sister's body? You obviously know me so why don't you identify yourself?"

"Wes Kline. Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board of InfinIT," he starts screaming insanely, "AND NEW PILOT OF THE IVORY KNIGHT!"

Hisao coldly replies, "Shut your mouth."

"Huh?" Hisao's response throws Wes' thoughts off track.

"You are _not_ the pilot. Screaming it won't make it any less of a lie. Now get out of my sister's body!" Hisao dashes in and avoids a slash at the Ebony's legs. He lifts himself up and over the Ivory, handstanding on its shoulders. Using his boosters he spins himself around and jumps off. Unlike the plodding the Ivory has been doing, he lands relatively softly.

When the Ivory turns to Hisao, Corentin aims a massive rifle and aims a shot in a gap in the shoulder of the Ivory. With a burst of blue, a bolt of light rips across and hits the Ivory Knight true to his aim. It hits at an angle, causing plating around the joint to drop off, exposing some of the joint and inner skeleton of the machine.

Wes stops and realizes the situation he is in. He boosts over to Corentin and tries to slice the gun to bits. Corentin moves the gun out of the way, grabs the Ivory's sword arm, braces his footing, and hip tosses the larger mech. As if his veins are filled with ice, Corentin aims the barrel of his gun down at the Ivory's head.

"I would appreciate much you to cooperate with Mon Hisao."

Wes tries to grab the Falchion's ankles but Corentin counters by stepping back. "I am not a fool."

Thinking quickly, Wes fires the boosters and slides along the Ivory's back, knocking Corentin down as he scrapes by. Wes does his best to make the Ivory roll, bringing the machine back to a standing position quickly. The missile pod finally snaps off and remains behind.

"I'm starting to lose out on this investment." He again activates the mech's sword and dashes towards Hisao, cutting up bits of pavement and buildings as he goes.

When he tries to stab the Ebony Knight, Hisao simply ducks the thrust. He stands up quickly and wraps his arm around the Ivory's arm. He elbows the Ivory in the face, and lifts up on the entrapped arm. Sparks fly out from the joint. Hisao puts a foot on the Ivory's chest and begins pulling on it.

"I'm sorry Reina, but this is what happens when you get to close to common trash," he mutters to himself as the arm tears off in an explosion.

The plasma of the sword blade dissipates slowly as the arm gets tossed to the side. Cables and tubes hang out of the now useless socket of the mech.

Wes begins mashing buttons, specifically the one he used to punch earlier. The Ivory throws punch after punch, forcing Hisao to block. The white machine wobbles around as it attacks, its balance now being horribly out of alignment. Its auto-balancers doing their best to keep the machine upright.

Corentin cannot keep a bead on the Ivory because of the wavering it is doing. "Hisao, firing is not possible. Hitting you is a… very likely."

Hisao groans as he backs up. "It's fine. This is his only option." He switches to a secure communications channel. "Get up behind him. With only one arm, the two of us are more than he can handle."

Corentin holsters his rifle and walks up behind the Ivory Knight. In a fluid motion, the Ivory flares its instant boosters, turns to meet the Falchion and grabs its head. Wes tosses forces it around and pushes Corentin into Hisao.

"I'll just be taking this," Wes says and takes Corentin's laser rifle. "At this distance, I don't need to aim."

* * *

Negi, Setsuna, and Kaede watch everything from a rooftop. The other two mechs make them hold back on entering the fray. The group collectively gulps as the thought of taking down even more giants plays out in their heads.

As the black mech stands up, Negi recognizes it. "It's him!" panic in his voice.

"Who is he?" Setsuna asks.

"I never learned his name or anything but he attacked Reina and me at the expo when we first met. I… I don't know about the other robot. But it sounded like there was some bad blood between Reina and the pilot of the black one."

"So what is he doing here?" Setsuna asks.

"Perhaps he's trying to settle things," Kaede states. "This may work to our advantage. If he can take down the Ivory Knight, then that might solve our problems."

* * *

Reina turns a corner and heads down the same street the mechs are fighting on. She comes to a stop and gets a good look at the situation now. The image of Hisao's mech and hers fighting, without her being in the Ivory Knight, jars her a little bit.

Her mouth doesn't quite want to work with her. "No… No no no…"

"What's up?" Konoka asks and gets a good look at the new mechs that have joined the fight. "Oh."

"It's my brother Hisao."

"You have a brother?" Asuna and Konoka ask.

"Sorta. It's a long story we don't have time for," Reina tells them. "Listen, I want you two to get out of here."

Konoka complies rather easily, leaving Asuna in the back of the car.

"What are you up to?" Asuna asks.

Reina seems rather matter-of-factly when she answers, "Oh, I'm gonna ram this car into the Ivory. With any luck, it'll knock it over."

"You can't just _do_ that to someone's car. And what about you?"

"Not just anyone's car though. Don't worry about it and get out. If I happen to hurt myself, do me a favor and scrape me up off the pavement, would you?" she says, what sounds like disaffection in her voice.

Asuna is genuinely worried. "Can't we talk about this?"

"Okay. What I'm going to do is ram this car here into the Ivory Knight. I don't plan on being in it if that's what you're thinking. I'm going to help my brother there."

"Well that makes me feel a little better."

"I'm probably going to get injured though. Diving out at… well whatever speed I can get it up to doesn't sound fun or safe. So try and hurry to me when I exit."

"You're crazy."

"Maybe."

Asuna climbs out and joins Konoka on the sidewalk. The brunette seems to be pondering something but abandons it when Asuna steps up on the sidewalk.

Inside the car, Reina looks down at the steering wheel and gear shift. "Let's see… How does that technique go again?" she asks herself.

She begins power standing, the rear wheels barking smoke. Her nerves are singing and synapses firing at 110 percent. Once she thinks it is good enough, she pops the car in gear and it takes off rapidly. Reina gets pressed back into the seat hard as the car throttles forward toward a date with her own mech. For a brief moment she thinks this may have been a _really_ bad idea.

When the car's pretty much set on where it will be impacting, she strains to get out of the car. It gets easier as the car slows down slightly from her not flooring it.

Betting everything, hoping for the best, and protecting her head, she dives out and tucks into a ball!

The initial impact hurts, as well as most of the rest but it's better than breaking every bone in her body or, at worse, dying. She is too concerned with how badly she's hurt to hear if the car made it or not. As she lies there, she can practically see the phrase "WASTED" written in the Pricedown font in the air. Asuna and Konoka run up to Reina and Asuna reaches down.

"WAIT!" Konoka blurts out. "Don't move her! Reina-san, can you move your toes?" Reina wiggles her feet in response.

"It's not that bad, I don't think," the downed girl says, taking sharp breaths here and there. "Hip hurts a bit too."

Asuna tells her, "Your arms are all scraped up but other than that you look fine."

"I'm glad there wasn't anything in the way, like a street light or something. Say… did my idea work?"

"Yeah," Konoka answers. "Whose car was that anyway?"

Reina laughs but then immediately holds her side and grunts in pain. "Well, aah… You see…"

* * *

The Ivory Knight looms over the Ebony Knight and the Falchion, the barrel of the laser rifle poised to make a clean hole through the both of them.

"Heh… Maybe I can even do better and haul your mech's corpse back to InfinIT. I could still make a pretty fat stack, even if yours is the obviously inferior mech. And screw the Falchion. That thing's just a hunk of shit." The sound of a roaring engine races towards them, and Wes catches it before it hits. "MY CAR!"

The impact of the car, combined with the Ivory's already tenuous balance, causes the machine to stumble. Hisao takes the opportunity to kick the rifle from Wes' control and kip up. Hisao picks up the Ivory and tosses it down, cracking the pavement. He flares up his own sword and stabs the Ivory just below the head.

"It's over," Hisao says and helps stand Corentin's mech up. He goes over to the Ivory Knight and grabs the chest plate. "Now get out of there!"

Metal groans and snaps loose, exposing the cockpit of the Ivory Knight. Wes hurriedly rips at the straps holding him in the chair, his panic hindering him.

"Shitshitshitshitshitshit! Why won't they let go?" He somehow undoes them but his exit is blocked by the face of the Ebony Knight. He can see the many apertures inside its eyes adjusting to the new light. A frightening chill runs down his spine as he looks up at that giant face.

The Ebony's massive hands reach down inside the fallen machine and wrap around its cockpit.

"THAT'S ENOUGH HISAO!" someone shouts before he can rip the control center out of the chest of the Ivory Knight.

* * *

Several mages with the school show up and climb into the cockpit and subdue Wes before he can get away. As he falls, a butterfly knife drops out of his coat sleeve.

"Oh ho… What do we have here?" asks one mage as she kneels down to pick it up. "Good thing he never got a chance to use this."

* * *

Hisao looks over, causing Corentin to look too. Both boys see Reina and a couple of other girls, the brunette of the three supporting Reina. Joining them is Setsuna, Kaede, and Negi.

"Hey… Hisao…" Konoka thinks aloud. "Hisao Ishikawa? The boy I had a marriage meeting with?"

Hisao plays it off cooly. "You must be confusing me with someone else." He hopes lowering his voice will work.

"Marriage meeting?" Reina asks. "People still do those? Anyway, that's my brother so his name would be Hisao Whitehall."

"Oh. I was just thinking that since the Hisao I met mentioned liking robots and al…" Konoka catches a glimpse of the connections behind Reina's ears which serves as a catalyst for her mind to make its own connection. "Oh! He had those connections behind his ears too!"

"Was he about so tall," asks Reina and measures him out on herself with her hand, "with black hair and a grumpy attitude?"

"Yup!" Konoka says, a strange amount of pep in her voice. "I think we had a fun time. We bought those make-them-yourself teddy bears for each other."

"You're dating my friend, Hisao?" Reina asks.

"No. She has me confused for someone else. Other people have the name Hisao you know." Reina leaves Konoka behind as she limps her way over to the Ebony Knight. "Are you okay?"

"I leapt out of a speeding car to save you, and I guess I got a little banged up. Like old times, right?"

"I… I can't deal with this. I'll catch you around sometime, sister." Hisao turns and tries getting away.

Reina commands him in English. "NO YOU DON'T! Hisao, as your older sister, I want you get over here and talk to me." She does her best to stomp her foot.

"Are you finally ready to hear me out?" Hisao asks as they both lapse into English, losing everyone who isn't either a good student or teacher.

"I'm not talking about that. We're siblings, and it's not right for us to be this... This… separated from each other. Come back home."

"You know I can't. He'd never take me back. And he doesn't deserve either of us, you especially."

"Well… At least come out and meet my friends. Your… friend can come too. Please Hisao."

The Ebony Knight turns back and opens its hatch. The Falchion opens up too as Corentin emerges. When Corentin and Hisao meet up with the group, Konoka recognizes both boys.

"That's the two I had meetings with!" she says.

"Good going little bro," Reina says and bumps him on the arm. The disparity between their heights is noticeable.

"It's not like that," Hisao replies coldly. "Her deranged grandfather set everything up."

Reina gives her brother a depressed look. "Why don't you come and meet everyone?" Even though she asked, she doesn't give much choice as she forces him along. "Everyone, this is my brother Hisao and his friend…" She looks at Corentin for a moment. "You look familiar."

"Corentin Catherine-Verliane. A bus stop we met at."

"Oh! That neat retro flight helmet," Reina remembers. "I recognize you now."

Hisao and Negi meet face-to-face, the black haired boy standing taller than the teacher. Negi feels the chill of the other boy's ice cold glare. He stifles a shudder.

"So you are Negi Springfield," Hisao says directly.

"Er… Yes. I am." Negi doesn't know what else to say. Hisao's gaze is devastating.

"And you're Asuna Kagurazaka," Hisao names her correctly. She too can feel the power of his stare, and recalls the few times she's been under Takahata's fabled _Death Specs._

"Say… How did you know our names?"

Hisao explains. "My sister didn't tell you? Hmph. Figures. Well anyway, once we are in the Knights, we can explore computer networks like going for a walk. It's not that hard. Once I found her, I studied the rest of you."

"Okay." Under her breath, Asuna adds, "That's a bit creepy."

"Uh… What else do you know?" Negi asks, worried he may have found out all kinds of things he shouldn't have.

Hisao seemingly ignores him in favor of turning back to Reina. His voice filled with its usual dissatisfaction, he tells her, "Okay, I'm done meeting your… friends. And since you're unwilling to listen to me, I'm going to leave now. I'm sure our father will be along any time now and I will not be in the same place as him."

"Aww…" Konoka says. "I was hoping my gift would have made you feel a little better. Did it do anything?"

"Not doing anything for him it is sadly," Coretin tells her.

"Corentin!" Hisao admonishes. He turns back to Reina. "Listen… There's something you have to hear me out on."

"If it's about your ideology, I don't want to hear it Hisao. You need to drop it. You'll never get me to think that way."

"No. When it comes to that, you'll hear me out in time. Can we go somewhere private?"

Reina sighs a sigh that is typically followed by the word fine. "Fine. The Ebony's cockpit will do."

As they leave the group behind, Corentin levels an uneasy smile at everyone. He feels so out of place. "So… Repairs will be paid for by InfinIT, no?"

"You're not a native speaker, are you?" Asuna asks. "Should fit in with Negi then."

"Oh! He is a speaker of French peut-être?"

"Nah. Negi's English."

"C'est tellement dommage!"

"What?"

Negi laughs. "You will have to excuse Asuna-san. She can barely speak English. Foreign languages are a mystery to her."

* * *

"So what's up?" Reina asks inside the Ebony's cabin. She hasn't been in here in quite a while, even longer since she's piloted it. They used to do that. Pilot each other's preferred machine. The thought of that brings back a bitter sense of nostalgia to Reina.

The both speak to each other in English. "I guess, no matter what, you're going to have to hear me out because this is important."

Reina finally breaks, tired of listening to his constant hammering of the issue. "Okay. Fine. What?"

"Really? I never thought you'd break down. Listen, I don't know how you'll take this. But I am here for you and maybe when this is over, you'll be willing to join me."

"I doubt it, but let's have it."

"William… Well, he is your father."

Reina stares blankly at him for a moment. "I already know that. Thanks to a guy called 'The Aritficer,' dad actually told me straight to my face." She mutters, "Where were you all those chapters ago?"

"And you're okay with that?" Hisao asks angrily.

"I'm actually quite happy about it. I have a father. And he could still be yours too."

Hisao actually looks shaken. "WHAT KIND OF MAN WOULD DO THIS TO HIS OWN CHILD?"

"Chill dude," Reina advises. "I look at it like this. Yeah, I was pissed when I found out there was the possibility. But there's not a damn thing I can do to change that. I've gotta be happy about what I've got, not be angry or sad about what I don't."

"That's your problem. You don't have the motivation. I don't think you're ready to hear what else I have to say."

"No. Lay it on me. Might as well be done with this nonsense once and for all."

"I want to show everyone our power. That we're superior. The two of us together could—

His sister slaps the taste out of his mouth. "Stop right there. Did you not just notice my machine got hacked? And what's with that idea? You want to rule the world or something? What kind of megalomaniac are you?"

Hisao rubs the red spot on his face. "Don't tell me they don't deserve it. And with our mechs, we could do it. Entire armies would fall before us."

"No, they don't. Despite what you may think, they're no better than us. We're both ordinary humans, just like them. You've changed Hisao… For the worse. I don't know what happened, but I don't want to talk to you until you throw away that stupid idea.

"And if you think I'll stand idly by and let you even try, I won't. I'll fight you. I'll fight you until you stop."

"Reina…"

"No Hisao. I think you need to go make some friends. But I know you've always been distant." She hugs him. Hisao doesn't struggle to break out.

She continues. "If I could, I'd turn back the clock and change dad's mind about choosing you. Maybe that would have changed things. Maybe you would have grown into a proper young man. Perhaps some people aren't cut out to be like me.

"If that wouldn't have happened, perhaps you'd have been a normal boy, without all the suffering you've experienced. But I want you to know that you're never alone. I'll always be your sister, even if you run to the other end of the Earth. You can always talk to me about anything."

Hisao doesn't know how to respond. "I…"

"Yes?"

"Nothing." Deep down in his stomach, he feels sick. He's confused and unused to being treated with any modicum of kindness, especially recently.

Reina continues to hold him for a little longer. She releases him and puts her hand on his head. "I know Negi could always use a few more male friends, so you're free to hang around with us if you want."

"No… I… I need some time to think by myself."

"Okay. Just be careful. What Wes did to me could easily happen to you."

Hisao nods. "Right. Goodbye Reina."

"See you later." Reina waves and rides the Ebony's winch down.

Once she's on the ground, she thinks back and states, "I never asked him why he was going to the school here. Or why he was using a fake name…" She shrugs it off and joins everyone else. "Hey, uh, Corentin, Hisao's getting ready to leave."

"Ah, I shall goodbye myself then," he says and makes his way into the Falchion and heads off with Hisao.

"No offense Reina," Asuna says, "but your brother's creepy. His gaze is just… Overwhelming."

"Eh… He's been in a rather dark place for a while and I think I've finally started getting through to him. He just needs some friends. I told him he could hang around with us. Hopefully that's okay with everyone."

"Of course," Negi tells her. "The usual clauses about magic and everything still apply though."

"Right right." Reina sighs. "Well, now to go look at the twisted, burning, wreckage that is my life." She hobbles over to the Ivory Knight and is greeted by mages from the school. "Look, I'm sorry what happened. And I won't ever keep that here again, provided it ever functions again."

"Your machine is very dangerous, yes. But the damage left behind is nothing for the _science division_ of Mahora academy." The male mage says the last part with a wink.

Reina takes a moment. "OH! Okay. Say… Any way of fixing my machine?"

"Nnnnot really. We'll be able fix the buildings and change the memories of citizens, but something this high tech would take far too long," he puts a hand on her shoulder. "Sorry kid. But we did contact your father when this started happening so he'll be able to pick up your machine here soon."

Nearby, Wes is getting placed inside a typical police vehicle.

"So what's going to happen to him?" Negi asks while pointing at the head of InfinIT.

"Oh, he'll get what's coming to him. Corporate espionage, theft, grand scale destruction of public property, and I know Kaminari's probably going to sue for the destruction of their mech."

Reina says, "Say, did he have a phone on him? He stole mine."

"Uh… There was one in your robot. We confiscated his. I suppose this one is yours then?" He hands her the phone she had just gotten this morning, along with all the stuff attached to it.

"Thanks a lot. Still, I'm sorry about all of this." She looks at the phone. "Hey… Isn't this a controller? What the hell? What a jury rigged little system."

"Looks like a mess," Konoka says.

* * *

Eddie runs along to the train depot where the mobile platform that was supposed to carry the Ivory Knight to its new home. He hustles along, stumbling over an inconveniently placed trash can. Bits of debris spill out, offering to trip him up as he gets back up. He stumbles on some pieces but keeps his balance enough to keep from tripping up. He enters the station and hurries up to the train.

"VINNY!" He huffs and puffs as he comes to a stop. "Vinny! We got problems!"

Vinny looks down from the conductor's seat. "Yeah, I noticed. InfinIT's done."

"What…" He continues breathing heavy. "What do we… do?"

Vinny reaches into his own coat pocket and pulls out another phone like device. "I was told that, in the case of something like this, to press the button on this thing three times." He holds it up and wiggles it up and down like one would do with a pencil.

"Do it then."

Vinny looks at it a moment and says, casually, "No."

"What? Why not?"

"Listen Ed… We've taken shit from him for the last time. And I don't feel like getting wrapped up in any court proceedings that this little stunt is going to cause. So Wes Kline can go to hell for all I care now. I've saved up a fair bit of money, despite not being paid too well since he lost Ozzy. Yeah, I feel bad for the poor girl we victimized, but again, I'm looking out for number one and that's all that matters."

"Aww Jeez…"

"If you're that concerned, go ahead and press it," Vinny tosses it to Eddie. "I wash my hand of this." Vinny pulls a handle and the train slowly begins to roll, making Ed walk along.

"I don't know…"

"Either way, I'm outta here. Probably be heading back to the U.S. or something to go job hunting again. You want to come along, you're more than welcome."

Eddie aims for the nearest basket and tosses the control towards it. It bounces off the rim and falls to the floor as he climbs aboard. "I think that might be the best thing to do."

An attendant, who was watching the two crooks talk to each other, leaves her booth to go pick up the device Eddie threw. She looks it over and takes it behind the counter and places it in a recycle bin.

* * *

Mana closes her rifle case. The experiment had some worthwhile results, despite her pride being wounded. She knows now what she expected, that it's bulletproof. They definitely know how to build those things.

"And now we know to not shoot her should the opportunity arise," Chao says from behind her. "Unless you've got some AP rounds or something. Even then, I wouldn't be sure." Mana remains stoic. Chao continues, "We learned quite a bit today and that's what matters. It is good thing I sent those blueprints to InfinIT too. With any luck, the 'Ivory Knight 2' won't be making an appearance at Mahorafest."

"So there will be a second one?" asks Satomi.

Chao answers, "I can't say. Ever since she showed up, things have been out of order. Perhaps I'm the source of distortion. Either way, I am prepared. We've got Hisao and Corentin, should we need them. I feel a little bad, stringing them along like this, but it's necessary. And after what's probably gone on down there, I think he might be having a crisis of resolve."

"So what do we do?" Satomi asks.

"Dangle the carrot a bit differently," Chao answers. "I'm standing on a hell of a fork in the road."

Satomi looks at Chao strangely before adjusting her glasses. Nothing has been normal this school year.

**Negima: Femella Intra Machina Chapter 15: End**

**End of the Chapter Stuff:** So… Not much to say here, except I still have a bit of work to do and I'm looking forward to the upcoming "Catherine" game. I also picked up "Resident Evil: Mercenaries 3D." And I'd give it a meh out of I can't be bothered to give it a numerical score. Bit of buyer's regret there and since you can't delete the save, no one's gonna want it.

Also, E3 was depressing this year. About the only thing I'm excited for, aside from the aforementioned Catherine, is The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. And because of that, I'm going to try and get a few chapters ahead since I LOVE the Elder Scrolls games and can easily spend several hundred hours with them. (That's kinda sad really but be damned if they aren't the most fun I've had with a game series outside Pokemon.)

Anyway, I've rambled on too long already.

**Thanks To:** The Ansem Man for once again for proofing and a wall to bounce things off of.

**And thanks to you for reading and making this story what it is!**


End file.
